Frontier announces upcoming layoffs to reduce costs

Developer will enact an organizational review

UK studio Frontier Developments announced an organizational review on October 17, 2023, to “deliver enhancements to Frontier's leadership and structure, drive efficiencies across the Company and achieve a reduction in annual operating costs of up to 20%.” These cost reductions will be delivered through “a recruitment freeze, spending cuts and, unfortunately, redundancies, subject to consultation.”

Frontier expects to be done with these measures by early 2024, so it seems likely that layoffs at the game developer will be done before the end of the ongoing year. GLHF sources suggest that between 50 and 200 workers will be made redundant by Christmas under this plan.

Frontier Developments has announced substantial layoffs / Frontier Developments

The company cites “a period of disappointing financial performance and more challenging industry conditions” as reasons behind the necessity of this program. An update on the review is planned to be provided in January 2024 and its full effects are supposed to be visible in the financial year 2025.

At the same time, Frontier stated that its existing portfolio of titles is performing in line with the expectations at the moment. Its next release will be that of Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin, a RTS game launching on November 17, 2023.

Currently, Frontier is expecting to operate at a loss in the financial year 2024. This organizational review’s goal is to “return the company to profit, and create a sustainable foundation for the future.”

Frontier launched F1 Manager 2023 this year and continues to support the game with updates, while also pushing out a continuous stream of DLC for Planet Zoo and Jurassic World Evolution 2 as well as content for Elite Dangerous.

Under its publishing wing, Frontier shipped three games from external studios this year – Stranded: Alien Dawn, Deliver Us Mars, and The Great War: Western Front. Back in June 2023, Frontier announced that it would not continue to act as a publisher under the Frontier Foundry label going forward, as the financial performance of these efforts remained disappointing.

Frontier is not the only UK developer going through trouble at the moment: After Sega canceled Hyenas, the expensive extraction shooter it’s been working on, Creative Assembly is laying off staff members as well.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin – campaign hands-on preview