Hi-Rez Studios Faces Significant Workforce Reductions Amidst Industry Challenges

At least 20 employees have lost their positions after yet another round of job cuts at Smite’s developer, Hi-Rez Studios.

Although these layoff details have not been officially confirmed by the studio at the moment of this writing, members of the Smite subreddit (thanks, GameDeveloper) have gathered reports from numerous developers indicating they were let go earlier today.

These layoffs – described as “significant” – come just after the launch of Smite 2, which transitioned to a free-to-play model last month, several months after its initial release as a premium early access title.

“I’m devastated to reveal that I was impacted by the layoffs at Hi-Rez Studios today,” mentioned broadcast producer, William Stonier.

“After 3.5 years working in live broadcast production, from graphics operator to technical director, and supporting throughout the studio, I’m prepared to take my next steps.”

These reductions follow another wave of layoffs announced in October, when as part of an “internal reorganization and reprioritization,” Hi-Rez Studios stated it was “laying off some team members across Hi-Rez”.

“A little under” 30 employees were also let go due to Hi-Rez’s restructuring back in June 2023.

In January 2025 alone, over 750 developers have lost their jobs, with cuts and shutdowns at Freejam, Splash Damage, Piranha Games, Jar of Sparks, as well as 185 positions eliminated by Ubisoft.

This week alone, we have reported that ProbablyMonsters has begun another round of layoffs, in addition to job reductions at Iron Galaxy and Sumo Group.