Side, a support studio that has lent services to games like the Silent Hill 2 remake, Kingdom Come Deliverance II, and Baldur's Gate 3, has laid off staff.
A Side spokesperson confirmed the redundancies to Game Developer today, saying that less than 10 people have been laid off. They confirmed that other employees have departed the company, but only because their contracts came to an end.
"Side is deeply grateful to the impacted team members for their hard work, passion, and contributions to our projects and our clients," the statement reads. "Their dedication has helped us uphold the high standards expected by our partners and players around the world. We thank them for being a part of our journey and remain committed to supporting them through this transition."
The spokesperson added that, while the company "can't speak on any specific employee situation," every month it's making decisions to grow and contract multiple teams, depending on "client work, project states, and needs of the business."
They said there is some "nuance around the structure of service companies" that results in workers arriving and departing at a regular cadence. We were told that Side can have anywhere between 2,500 and 3,500 employees depending on its current workload. They added that when the "right work" comes in, Side will look to bring some people back into the fold.
Yesterday, at least seven developers posted about losing their positions at the studio via LinkedIn. Two of them specifically mentioned being laid off. As for the rest, it's unclear if they were on contract or employed full-time.
"Welp, I was at Side, Inc. (previously Ghostpunch Games) for a little less than a year, and it was nice," software engineer Jonathan Rust wrote. "But now it's over. Hard not to be extremely bummed, hard to be positive... but here we go again, I guess."
"Today is tough," 3D environment artist Shane Schultz wrote. "I was impacted by a layoff at Side / Ghostpunch Games. I’m incredibly grateful for the time I had there and for the chance to work alongside some truly talented and passionate people. "
Side recently announced a partnership to open a new studio in Saudi Arabia
Side is a rebrand of PTW, which took place in March of this year. The service provider acquired Ghostpunch Games for $13 million in August of last year. All of the developers who wrote about the reported layoffs mentioned Ghostpunch in their farewell posts.
Previous confirmed layoffs included 45 staff across global teams, which took place in January 2024. By then, the developer had aided in the development of Nintendo's Super Mario Wonder, Bethesda's Starfield, and Capcom's Exoprimal in recent times.
Since then, alongside the Ghostpunch acquisition, the support developer opened a spinoff studio in South Carolina in December. Earlier this month, Side also announced a partnership with Savvy Games, which is owned by Saudi Arabia's state-backed Public Investment Fund, in order to open a studio in Riyadh.
