Through a press note published in the last few hours, 11 bit studios has announced that it has canceled a video game in development and that it has consequently fired some of its staff.
Work on Project 8, this is the project’s code name, began in 2018. It would have been the Polish company’s first video game aimed primarily at the console market: “Our vision for Project 8, which should have been our first specifically designed title for console gamers, it was bold and exciting,” said Przemysław Marszał of 11 bit studios. “However, it was conceived in very different market conditions, when narrative-driven games had stronger appeal.”
Marszał specifies that the changed market conditions are only partly responsible for the cancellation of the project, which immediately had a troubled development: “Although we have achieved notable improvements in quality in some areas, several critical aspects of the game and its process development have remained problematic despite multiple iterations. Over time, delays accumulated and, with each milestone reached, the project budget grew.”
Ultimately, company managers decided to pull the plug on the project to avoid further losses. For this reason, part of the 37 employees working on Project will be fired, while the remaining team members will be moved to other projects in progress at 11 bit studios. The exact extent of the cuts is unclear, but Marszał said that less than half of the entire team will be sent home.
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