Multiple employees at Refactor Games have confirmed that they have been laid off. This is coming less than two months after the studio shipped FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition for Netflix. The game launched on June 11, 2026, coinciding with the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
There are conflicting reports regarding the number of employees affected. While some former employees said the entire studio was laid off, others said the majority of the employees at the studio were affected without providing any numbers. At the time of writing, the studio has yet to provide an official statement.
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FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition was released exclusively through Netflix Games and will be available to subscribers at no additional cost. It is available to be played on TVs using a mobile phone as a controller or via web browsers.
After the launch of FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, Delphi Interactive, which partially owns the studio, pulled funding for their next project. It was revealed that the decision to cancel the contract with Refactor Games came without a warning. Consequently, last Friday, July 31, 2026, was the last working day for those affected.
According to those who spoke with Insider Gaming on the condition of anonymity, no severance was offered. The report also said around 80 people were let go. However, it was also noted that the studio plans to re-hire some of those let go in the near future for other projects.
The team at Refactor Games is made up of talent from 2K Sports, EA Sports, Survios, OneTeam Partners, and more. Their focus has been on building the next generation of sports games.
Ex-Refactor Games employees speak about the layoffs
GameBaba Universe spotted more than a dozen posts on LinkedIn from people who were impacted by the layoff at Refactor Games. Through some of their posts, we got more insights into what happened behind the curtain.
Some of the studio employees (Photo credit: Refactor Games)
Product Designer Victor Del Castillo wrote, “After shipping the FIFA World Cup Launch Edition for Netflix Games, the studio’s parent company unfortunately pulled funding, and the entire team, myself included, was laid off.”
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3D artist Joseph Civitate added, “Our entire studio just got laid off at Refactor Games after releasing FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition on Netflix. Many talented, hard-working people, including myself across all departments, were let go a couple months after our game shipped, due to the funding on our next project being cancelled.”
“Last Friday marked the end of my chapter at Refactor Games as I was laid off along with the rest of the studio,” wrote senior producer E Petrakis.
There is uncertainty on the actual scale of the impact. Some ex-employees like senior UI/UX designer Shelby Tang wrote, “Unfortunately, Refactor Games had to let go the majority of their employees, myself included.”
Also leaning towards the narrative of the majority rather than the entire was technical artist Thaddeus Muchnok, who wrote, “So the weekend is over and I’m super bummed out to announce that Refactor Games had to lay off the vast majority of their studio, including me.”
Refactor Games grew from under thirty people to over 100 in about two years. One of those who was there from the beginning is Nathan Potter, a full-stack developer who wrote, “Being part of Refactor Games changed me as a developer. Going from less than 30 people in a second-hand office to 100+ in about two years was an incredible ride, and one I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
GameBaba Universe empathizes with everyone affected by this decision and hopes they land new roles soon. If you have open roles, you can reach out to everyone mentioned in this post by clicking on the respective links.
