HiRez Studios have been through a number of layoffs as they’ve tried to transition to a smaller studio structure and have put several old multiplayer games in maintenance mode, and there has been yet another round of cuts at the company.
However, they’ve done something very few game companies decide to do: Rather than focusing layoffs on the team that’s still working on Smite 2, the only game that’s still in active development from Hi-Rez’s dev conglomerate, they’ve chosen to cut the majority of senior staff.
Former CEO Stew Chisam, Executive Producer Travis Brown, and another senior staff member who goes by Radar have been laid off from the company as confirmed Killgoon, the new lead behind the remaining Smite 2 team at Titan Forge.
And, though layoffs being handed out is rarely ever a good sign, fans of the game feel overwhelmingly that the right decision has been made.
Hi-Rez exec speaks out after senior employees get laid off
A former HiRez dev leaked the news on Twitter, prompting Killgoon (aka Alex Cantatore) to respond and explain the reasoning behind these layoffs and why they were made.
“Essentially, the board’s rationale was that the company had a lot of senior management in relation to our current size,” he explained.
“This does not affect our core mission, or any other people working directly on SMITE 2. We will continue to focus our efforts on improving the core game and new player experience, while adding more Gods at our current one-per-two-weeks pace.”
Cantatore explained that it was also his call not to make a public announcement about it, as he wanted each executive affected to be able to put out their own statement. However, he’s still confident in Smite 2 himself and wants to remain at the studio for now.
“The current pace of development should continue. I personally still believe in SMITE 2. I can’t comment too much on the numbers, but we get better every day and we believe we have a lot more growth potential.
“Really we’re just getting to the point where the core game is pretty good and we can start to focus on the things we need to focus on to grow.”
Former Hi-Rez CEO Stew made his own statement over on LinkedIn, saying the following:
“The last few years have been difficult for Hi-Rez, and for the industry. Certainly not everything has worked out as we hoped, but I think we also have left a unique footprint on the industry — and tried to carve out a space as a mid-size cross-platform games-as-a-service pioneer, relentlessly fighting against giants. The team that remains is absolutely incredible and I know they will enjoy success.”
Travis Brown, meanwhile, is someone we spoke to when Smite 2 was initially announced. He was the leading vision behind the game and had been with Hi-Rez for almost 20 years before being laid off.
Smite’s OG logo from the 2012 gameplay revealDespite the news of old Hi-Rez talent departing, fans on Reddit are feeling good about the news. Many of them blamed old leadership for the way several of their old multiplayer games were balanced and treated, with them happy to see a switch up.
“NO MORE STEW HOLY SH*T LETS F**KING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” said one Redditor.
“Not even kidding if stew is gone (and I mean really gone) im turning smite 2 back on and slamming qs just to pump the numbers,” said another.
And, while Smite 2 isn’t the most popular game on Steam by any means, they still pull a peak of around 6k players a day at the time of writing. Considering the majority of Smite players are on console, there’s still a world in which Smite 2 succeeds.
