Gravity Well lays off more than 40 staff after losing publisher funding
Summary
Independent studio Gravity Well laid off more than 40 staff, the majority of its team.
The studio lost its funding partner over the summer and found no replacement.
Founded in 2020 by former Respawn Entertainment developers Drew McCoy and Jon Shiring.
Its unannounced first game remains unshipped after six years in development.
01
Milestone funding evaporates before shipping
Gravity Well ran six years of development without a released product.
Its funding partner withdrew over the summer with no replacement secured in time.
The studio had no shipped title to generate revenue when the money stopped.
"We are truly sad that we couldn't get it done in time to keep the team together."
02
Anti-crunch benefits raised fixed costs without revenue
Gravity Well pitched flexible PTO, generous health benefits and profit-sharing to veteran hires.
It planned to cap headcount at 80 to 85 people rather than scale fast.
These commitments ran on continuous external funding, with no shipped game to offset them.
When the publisher funding line closed, the studio had no revenue cushion to fall back on.
03
Smaller team continues amid uncertain future
Gravity Well is continuing with a much smaller team while it searches for new funding.
The studio told staff of the risk as the funding search unfolded over the summer.
"Given the current state of the industry our future is uncertain."
What this means
For Investors & VC: Add backup-funder coverage and revenue-free runway months to pre-launch studio diligence.
For Publishers & Developers: Recruit the released veteran AAA developers into open senior roles this quarter.
For Service Vendors: Pitch scoped co-dev contracts to the downsized team to finish its game.
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