“Incredibly painful”: I Expect You To Die studio Schell Games cuts 49 jobs
Schell Games, the studio behind the I Expect You To Die VR series, has laid off 49 employees in its second round of job cuts this year.
The Pittsburgh developer confirmed the figure to Vertical Slice, which reported that the cuts affected about 40% of the workforce and reached across the studio.
In a separate public statement, Schell Games called the decision “incredibly painful” and cited difficult conditions across the games industry. It said the cuts were intended to help secure the studio's future.
Schell Games founder and CEO Jesse Schell. Image: Schell Games
The second round follows the studio's first layoffs in August
Schell Games makes games and interactive experiences for clients as well as its own projects. Its VR catalogue includes I Expect You To Die, Until You Fall and Among Us 3D.
The latest reductions follow an earlier round in August. At the time, founder and CEO Jesse Schell told Good Virtual Reality that approximately 10% of staff had been laid off, leaving about 125 employees.
Schell said that was the company's first layoff in its 24-year history. He described a shift towards a greater number of smaller projects and said VR remained a meaningful part of the studio's work.
Dragon Grove is a mixed reality puzzle game announced for Meta devices. Image: Schell Games
The studio is helping affected developers find new roles
Alongside the announcement, Schell Games asked potential employers to contact its careers team about affected staff. It listed experience across engineering, art, design, production, sound, marketing, quality assurance and other disciplines.
The company did not provide a breakdown of how many jobs were lost in each role. Its statement also did not name any cancelled games.
Dragon Grove was previously announced for spring 2027
Schell's upcoming projects include Dragon Grove, a mixed reality puzzle game developed for Meta. The studio's project page lists a spring 2027 launch and describes hand-tracked play with virtual dragons.
That announcement predates the latest layoffs. The company has not said in its public statement whether the cuts change the project's plans, so the previously announced window should not be treated as a new post-layoff confirmation.
