Pokemon Go’s staff – and outlook – just got a little smaller as this week one of its development studios was hit with major layoffs.
We’re talking here about Very Very Spaceship, which co-developed Pokemon Go under Niantic (and was until last year’s cancelations was working on Transformers Heavy Metal). According to Linkedin reports from affected workers – first noticed by GameDeveloper.com – Niantic has laid off an unknown number of employees, primarily artists, recruiters, and producers.
“My escape pod was unexpectedly ejected from the spaceship as I was sadly laid off, and yesterday was my last day with Very Very Spaceship,” recruiter Sara Carmen H. wrote. Games producer Matt Swanson specifically referred to his job loss in “the most recent round of layoffs” for the company.
The move comes at a particularly interesting time as POGO is still in the middle of a player rebellion over avatar changes, which as senior artist Kelsey Martin noted were indeed partially developed at VVS. Niantic’s social media posts and contests are still being bombed with complaints and mockery for VVS, though there’s no confirmation that the layoffs are related to the POGOÂ avatar changes even if the timing is odd. But as the Silph Road points out, Very Very Spaceship’s staff shouldn’t be blamed for the avatars debacle, as Niantic approved its work, and we already know Niantic’s private and public testers told the company that the changes weren’t ready and it pushed them through anyway.
While it’s no surprise that those who made bad decisions keep their jobs while those who could fix it lost theirs, it’s disappointing nevertheless. Hopefully those affected by the layoffs will find a new role at a company that doesn’t think adult Cabbage Patch Kids are good avatar models.
