Cyan Worlds, the acclaimed studio behind adventure games Myst and Riven, revealed today that it has laid off more staff in the second round of job losses in 2025. It didn’t disclose exactly how many staff had been laid off, but updated a contact sheet to reflect those of its staff who were still in need of work.
The studio previously laid off 12 staff members in March, which amounted to around half of its staff. In a statement issued at the time, leadership said they were in “a tricky spot where we are having to weigh the future of our studio against the month-to-month realities of game development in 2025.” They also stated they were offering severance packages to those who had been laid off.
The number of layoffs in the games industry has slowed down since last year, when over 14,000 people lost their jobs. According to the Video Game Layoffs aggregator, the layoffs as of this point in the year number roughly 2,500. However, Cyan Worlds is not the only developer losing people in recent days. MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy announced shortly after the game’s launch that it had entered a consultation process with layoffs likely coming shortly after.