Wayfinder and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story developer Airship Syndicate is reportedly the latest casualty in a growing wave of video game industry layoffs.
According to Polygon reporter Nicole Carpenter (who in turn cites "a rep" from the studio as her source), 12 employees of Airship Syndicate have been laid off.
In addition, Airship Syndicate president Ryan Stefanelli and CEO Joe Maduereira "will cut their pay", according to Carpenter. It's not clear how significant the cuts will be, though.
According to the rep who spoke to Carpenter, the decision to lay off 12 employees and for the two execs to take pay cuts "was made to ensure that Airship Syndicate can continue to operate and deliver great experiences".
As Carpenter herself points out, it's relatively rare for execs to take pay cuts when staff layoffs are happening. Perhaps the most oft-cited example is that of Nintendo's Satoru Iwata, who famously took a pay cut when the Wii U's fortunes looked grim.
Of course, Airship Syndicate isn't quite on the same scale as Nintendo, but even smaller companies' higher-ups rarely take pay cuts in the face of employee layoffs.
Reports of layoffs at Airship Syndicate are just the latest in a long string of industry casualties, unfortunately.
Other studios reportedly hit by layoffs recently include Outriders developer People Can Fly, while studios confirmed to have laid off employees include 3D Realms, Lost Boys Interactive, and Humble Games.
Bigger companies like Codemasters, Hasbro, and Amazon's gaming division have also been affected, while some studios, like Saints Row developer Volition, have been closed outright (although ex-Volition employees have already started writing the next chapter of that particular story).
It's tough to predict where the hammer will fall next, but one thing seems certain: this wave of layoffs is far from over. Stay tuned for more on this one.
