Singularity 6 has announced a third round of layoffs in less than a year. Around 36 employees were impacted in the latest layoff round. The layoff is part of a restructuring process “in an effort to navigate this tough economic period”. The Los Angeles-based studio laid off 49 employees in April.
“Unfortunately we have had to restructure and reduce the size of our team as we stay focused on supporting Palia and serving our community long term,” read a statement issued by a spokesperson for Singularity 6 to Game Developer.
“We thank our departing team for all their work; we are committed to providing the best assistance and transition we can. We hope the industry will provide homes for these talented colleagues.”
Singularity 6 was founded in 2018 and was “dedicated to the idea that online games can deliver deeper, more meaningful experiences”. According to the company’s LinkedIn profile, they explored new styles of game design and tackled difficult technical problems in Palia.
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“Our vision is to create a compelling virtual universe filled with rich and diverse gameplay experiences and social interactions that will keep you playing for years, evolving along with you and the rest of the community. We want our players to feel valued as well as a true sense of belonging.”
Palia is a free-to-play MMO game that was released for Nintendo Switch in December 2023 and on Steam in March. It features cross-play and cross-progression and strongly emphasizes playing with friends. The game allows you to craft the home of your dreams.
What GameBaba Universe found hard to explain was that the company’s career page currently has lots of open opportunities across art, design, engineering, data, production, publishing, and QA. Perhaps, they have not updated the careers page following the layoff announcement.
Message from former Singularity 6 employees
GameBaba Universe has spotted posts from former Singularity 6 employees who are now soliciting the help of their connections to find new homes for their talent. Quite a number of them said they would take a break before getting back to work.
“It has been the most incredible journey joining Singularity 6! I got to work with AMAZING people, learn SO much, and FALL IN LOVE with Palia. I’m so grateful gaming took a chance on me!” wrote senior executive assistant Arun Storrs. “I’m going to take a month to travel to Nepal to work with my non-profit, The Kumari Project, and help my kiddos as they journey into higher education!”
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“I was affected by the layoffs at Singularity 6 yesterday,” wrote software engineer Casey K. “I’m very proud of the work we did bringing Palia to life, and will miss the talented team I worked with. I’m hoping to take a little time to relax, regroup, and spend time with my kids as their school year ends.”
UI technical artist Michael Staats wrote, “Sadly today was my last day working at Singularity 6. I am incredibly proud to have been able to work with so many talented individuals on Palia to launch on both PC and Switch, but now I must look for my next adventure.”
“After 2 years at Singularity 6, I find myself affected by the latest round of layoffs,” wrote Lyn D. “I’ve met so many incredible people both within the studio and in the Palia community. I especially want to shoutout our small, yet mighty Publishing team that was able to pull off some amazing feats across all our milestones. I’ve learned a lot during my time here, and for a game that I deeply believed in.”
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Several other former employees including project manager Candance Corrales, lead gameplay designer Sean Wissler, principal exterior level designer Gary Platner, gameplay programmer Stephen Rubio, and principal UX designer Brooks Bouchard all wrote about the layoff.
GameBaba Universe added a link to the profile of everyone mentioned in this post to make it easy for anyone with open opportunities to reach out to them. This year has been one of the toughest for workers in the video game industry with nearly 10,000 job losses already announced in the first five months.
