Wayfinder studio Airship Syndicate has already faced a round of layoffs over the last year, and I’m sorry to report this morning that it’s just undergone yet another one.
“In light of the difficult challenges facing our industry, we’ve had to make the tough decision to let go of some incredibly talented Airship team members, including 12 full-time employees and four contractors,” Airship CEO Joe Madureira and president Ryan Stefanelli wrote on the company’s Linkedin page just ahead of the weekend. “Earlier this year during a studio restructuring we both took pay cuts that are still in place today. In addition, we are both contributing personal funds to help Airship continue operating with our remaining staff. Our team of 50 will stay committed to delivering the Wayfinder roadmap and developing future projects. We extend our deepest gratitude to all of our employees, both past and present, for their hard work and dedication.”
The company saw layoffs back in January, just two months after Tencent-owned Digital Extremes abruptly nuked its external publishing outfit and kicked Wayfinder back to Airship just weeks after its early access launch. Since then, Airship has plunged on through early access development, patched in the Echoes update that de-MMO-ified the game, and most recently patched in a major quality-of-life update, all while gunning for a proper October launch.
“We are currently full steam ahead on developing and publishing ourselves,” Airship’s AJ LaSaracina told us earlier this month. “No plans to change this! Wayfinder has been our main focus, but we also have a small team working on another project, one that is near and dear to our legacy. We are hopeful for Wayfinder’s 1.0 launch and beyond, so we believe we’ll be able to continue operating two teams for the foreseeable future.”
