Devolver Digital cuts 40% of staff at subsidiary studio Nerial

Publisher Devolver Digital has reduced its workforce at subsidiary studio, Nerial, by 40 percent.

These cuts come on top of halving the teams at its Polish studio, Artificer, and Good Shepherd / Big Fan by “50%+ over the course of 2024.”

Whilst reporting a “strong” fiscal performance and a “return to profit and growth” at its most recent investor presentation, Devolver said it had “refocused” and “right-sized” three of its smaller subsidiaries, and “given them a tighter focus, reducing affected team sizes by approximately 50 percent.”

After “assess[ing] the appropriate size of its global footprint across the various geographies,” it has now reduced its overall headcount from 303 employees to around 270 today.

“Nerial has undergone a team restructure to address issues around recent releases and to better shape the team for future releases – this restructure has resulted in a 40 percent reduction in headcount,” the publisher wrote.

“Artificer, our Polish studio, was downsized by over 50 percent in early 2024. A new greenlight process has refocused Artificer on projects better suited for current market conditions and gamer trends. Good Shepherd / Big Fan also reduced its headcount by 50%+ over the course of 2024.”

In the first three months of 2025 alone, 1600 developers have lost their jobs, with cuts and closures at Freejam, Splash Damage, Piranha Games, Jar of Sparks, Ubisoft, ProbablyMonsters, Iron Galaxy, Sumo Group, Liquid Sword, NetEase Games, Toast Interactive, Night School Studio, Striking Distance, Until Dawn remake developers, Ballistic Moon, and – most recently – Eidos Montréal, PlaySide, and AppLovin.