VR studio nDreams plans to lay off up to 17.5% of its workforce
Despite investment and acquisition by Aonic, UK-based VR studio nDreams could be cutting jobs due to "challenging VR games market".
British VR studio nDreams is planning major job cuts. In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh said that despite exploring alternatives to avoid such layoffs, a new strategic focus could result in redundancies affecting up to 17.5 percent of the staff. This would put up to 88 jobs at all levels of the company at risk.
The statement says:
"We are working tirelessly to support our team with the respect and care they deserve throughout this challenging process, including all our efforts to comprehensively assist those whose positions may be impacted to move into new roles within nDreams or elsewhere. Having been fully-focused on VR development since 2013, we have inevitably faced many challenges in building a modest independent studio into a world-leading VR game developer working to push both the technology and the market forward. These necessary considerations of losing valued team members are the most difficult yet, but our belief in XR gaming is undimmed. We firmly believe that our proposed new structure will enable us to better serve current and future audiences in creating medium-defining titles for years to come. For now, our priority is to support our people in this process as we work through reshaping for the future."
nDreams is one of the biggest VR-focused studios
nDreams is a UK-based VR studio specializing in the development and publishing of VR games. The nDreams portfolio of games includes Fracked, Synapse, Vendetta Forever, Frenzies, Phantom: Covert Ops and Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord for Meta Quest and Playstation VR 2.
In recent years, nDreams has received significant investment, including $35 million from Aonic Group, to develop larger and more ambitious VR games. Last year, nDreams was acquired by Aonic for approximately $110 million. Despite this investment, however, nDreams now appears to be in trouble.
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