Thunderful Group, which develops and publishes the popular SteamWorld series alongside several other titles, has announced that it is laying off between 80 and 100 employees as part of its second round of “restructuring” in less than a year – claiming that he saw “no other alternative” to ensure the sustainability and resilience of the Group in the long term.”

Thunderful was born in 2017 after the merger of Swedish indie developers Image & Form and Zoink, and has since expanded to several other publishers and developers, including Cloud Gardens studio Coatsink and Somerville developer Jumpship. In January, the company announced that it lay off about 20 percent of its staff as part of a “restructuring programme”, management believed it would “strengthen the group’s competitive position in the long term”, but it now appears that Thunderful has failed to achieve its original objective.

In a statement shared on its websiteThunderful – which also divested its distribution business earlier this year – has confirmed it is undertaking a new phase of restructuring with the aim of reducing in-house development and “doubling down” on third-party game publishing.

“Even though significant reductions in cost levels have been achieved this year,” explains the group, “revenue targets have not been achieved and the Group is still struggling with negative cash flow.” As a result, the company made the decision to lay off a “large portion of the development team,” affecting between 80 and 100 employees. Thunderful says the move from internal development to external publishing “will reduce the group’s fixed costs and enable greater flexibility, enabling faster and more diverse game releases by leveraging external talent and resources in a balanced manner, while retaining a certain capacity for internal development. ”

“It is regrettable to announce a second restructuring of Thunderful in less than a year,” added the CEO of the Thunderful group, Martin Walfisz, “but we unfortunately do not see any other alternatives to ensure the sustainability and long-term resilience of the group… We have many talented and dedicated employees, and it is with great regret that we are forced to part ways.”

Back in February, Thunderful admitted the one from last year Building SteamWorld – the first new game in the SteamWorld series since 2019 – “did not meet expectations”, and that it put the Previously announced SteamWorld Headhunter “on hold”. His most recent title, SteamWorld Heist 2arrived in August, earning three stars out of five in the Eurogamer review. “The core of The SteamWorld Heist is still hot in this turn-based tactics sequel,” wrote Katharine Castle, “but its attempt to go bigger and better is a risk that hasn’t exactly paid off.”