Earlier this month, Double Fine Productions was one of the studios that announced independence following Xbox Reset. A message from the studio cofounder Tim Schafer on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, indicated that 23 people were affected.
“Today, Double Fine Productions let go of 23 members of our staff,” read the message from Tim. “As a small, tightly-knit team, these action are not taken lightly. Only the survival of our studio would ever make us consider such a painful action. Our transition to becoming an independent company also means becoming a size that we can sustain.”
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Tim stressed that the people affected by the decision are all important to the studio and have all contributed to their games and culture, “and they will be missed”. The studio thanked them for their contributions.
Corroborating how difficult it was for Double Fine Productions to lay off employees was Bashar Adullah, the founder of Remote Game Jobs, a job listing platform for remote jobs in the game industry.
Sharing the message from Double Fine Productions, Abdullah wrote, “This studio means so much to me and many others. Being hard core LucasArts fan, and having been a backer of their two KickStarters.
“If you’ve seen their backer videos, you will know the last thing Tim would wanna do is lay someone off. He was always proud of keeping the team from one game to the next. Until he could no longer, as we could see in the documentary series.”
Following the severing of ties with Xbox, fans have been watching Double Fine Productions and the other studios that have gone independent to see where their journeys are headed. It is not surprising that some of these studios are cutting roles following the change in structure, especially because of how difficult getting funding has become in the gaming industry.
GameBaba Universe empathizes with everyone impacted by this decision and hopes they land on their feet soon.
