Layoffs Announced at Civilization Studio Firaxis and Wildgate Publisher Dreamhaven

By Bee Wertheimer  |  September 5, 2025 | 3:00pm
Video Games News Games Industry Layoffs
Layoffs Announced at Civilization Studio Firaxis and Wildgate Publisher Dreamhaven

The corporate machine grinds on, forever uncaring who gets crushed in its gears. Games companies are ushering in the new month with yet another round of layoffs, this time affecting staff members at Firaxis and Dreamhaven.

Yesterday 2K confirmed they were laying off developers at Firaxis, seven months after the release of Civilization VII. According to Game Developer, the number of staff laid off is estimated to be in the dozens. A 2K spokesperson told the outlet that “there was a staff reduction today at Firaxis Games, as the studio restructures and optimizes its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity.” One of the impacted writers, Emma Kidwell, first revealed the cuts through social media.

But that’s not all: Dreamhaven CEO Mike Morhaime also announced layoffs at the Wildgate publisher yesterday. The number of employees affected has not been specified, but the layoffs are primarily targeting Dreamhaven’s publishing division and not either of the two studios it owns.

Certainly it’s just a coincidence these firings were announced on the release day of a particular highly-anticipated game, at the exact time when the bad news was most likely to be buried. They’re just two more examples of the seemingly endless wave of layoffs the games industry has been going through for the last few years—a wave that hit Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics just last week.

The success of a civilization is measured by its art and culture. Art is the beating heart of our species, the very thing that makes life worth living, but we exist under an economic system determined to grind every single precious artist to blood and bonedust. It doesn’t matter how well a game sells, how above and beyond these developers go in their work; eventually the axe comes for everyone. How else to keep the people in charge—the ones with the power to stop this—fat and happy?

If you have an affinity for any artistic pursuit—whether you’re a game developer, a musician, or a hobbyist knitter—I beg you to keep making things. In spite of everything.

 
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