Layoffs and closures, handled well

Play this lesson

The hardest decision

Sometimes a studio must cut costs: stop a project, or let people go. Letting people go is a layoff, called redundancy in the UK. How it is done stays with everyone who leaves and everyone who stays.

The law sets a minimum

GOV.UK: "You must follow 'collective consultation' rules if you're making 20 or more employees redundant". For 20 to 99, consultation starts at least 30 days before the first dismissal; for 100 or more, 45 days. "You can be fined an unlimited amount if you do not notify RPS."

Quick check

A UK studio plans 25 redundancies. What must it do?

  1. Consult collectively, at least 30 days before the first dismissal
  2. Nothing special
  3. Announce it the same day
Show the answer

Consult collectively, at least 30 days before the first dismissal

20 to 99 redundancies need collective consultation, at least 30 days before the first one.

True story: a letter to 17,000 people

On 13 June 2023, Embracer Group, the owner of many game studios, announced a restructuring program. Its CEO wrote: "Embracer currently engages close to 17,000 people and while that number will be lower by the end of the year, it is too early to give an exact forecast on this."

He asked "all our managers to lead and act with compassion, respect, and integrity", and said "we will work to ensure that affected team members receive information first."

Source: Embracer Group: Open letter by Embracer Group CEO on restructuring program (13 June 2023), embracer.com

Quick check

Who did Embracer's CEO say should hear first?

  1. Affected team members
  2. Investors
  3. Journalists
Show the answer

Affected team members

He wrote that "affected team members receive information first."

Once, and clearly

Several small rounds of cuts leave everyone waiting for the next one. Kai's plan for Shard Garden, if it ever must: one decision, told to each affected person privately first, then to the whole team the same day.

Plan the day

If Remy must let someone go, how should that person hear the news?

  1. Privately, from their manager, before anyone else
  2. In a company-wide email
  3. From a news article
Show the answer

Privately, from their manager, before anyone else

Their own news, in private, first. Then the rest of the team.

Help people land

Fair pay to leave, time to look, references and help finding new jobs. Shard Garden also keeps their names in the game's credits: the work they did stays theirs.

Quick check

People who leave in a layoff should be removed from the game's credits.

Show the answer

False

They made the game. Their names stay in the credits.

What holds a studio together

In good years and hard ones, a studio runs on its culture.

Bolt says: Next: studio culture.

Fact-checked 12 October 2026