"Romero Games is not closed": After reports of layoffs caused by Microsoft, Romero Games says it did lose funding but has now heard from "several publishers interested in helping us"

Sigil 2 cover art of horned goat demon
(Image credit: Romero Games)

Addressing "inaccuracies" in reports around its fate following funding lost in collateral damage from 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:Microsoft's latest massive layoff wave, Romero Games issued a new statement confirming that the studio remains open and it's actively working to find a new pat🐲h forward which includes offers from "several" potential new publishers.

"We want to address recent reports regarding the status of🌠 Romero Games," readsš’…Œ. "These reports have contained inaccuracies, and we feel it's important to set the record straight."

Romero Games affirms that funding for its project was pulled and that its game "was canceled," though it doesn't spell out the publisher that pulled that funding "due to confšŸ”Æidentiality agreements." However, even the studio admits "some may infer it from public information," stopping just short of tapping "Microsoft" in morse code on the table.

With that funding gone, "we now have to rešŸ‰assess the entire sไtaffing of our studio," Romero Games continues.

That does not mean, however, that everyone is laid off. It's worth noting that this notion didn't come out of nowhere; multišŸøple Romero Games employees said they had been cut, and one specified that "our whole studio is being let go." It's possible some wires were crossed internally or🤪 ꦿfolks understandably took the news hard on social media.

We previously reached out to Romero Games for details about the scope of the layoffs, the future of its unreleased game, and the nature of its previous publisher, but it declined to commešŸŽnt at the time. I've followed up with the studio to request more information.

For now, we know that "Romero Games is not closed, and we are doing everything in our power to ensu♐re that it does not come to that. Any suggestion otherwise is factually incorrect. Indeed, we were in the studio today to discuss next steps with the team."

There is also hope for the canceled game itself. Romero Games says it has been "coš„¹ntacted by several publishers interested in helping us bring the game across the finish line, and we're currently evaluating those opportunities."

It's poā™›ssible that those publishešŸ“–rs include Pocketpair Publishing, the publishing arm of Palworld's developer, assuming that ą¶£post from comms director and publishing manager ą²žJohn Buckley.

Brenda and John Romero recently spoke to GamesRadar+ as part of our wide-reaching developer panel on what people get wrong about games.

Austin🌊 has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been wšŸ°ith GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

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