Sackboy maker Sumo Group is laying off hundreds of employees

Just after showing off a new project

Sumo Digital

Sumo Group, the company that includes Sackboy maker Sumo Digital and Secret Mode, announced layoffs affecting at least 200 people. Sumo Group, owned by the media megacorporation Tencent, announced the layoffs in a brief statement on its website and said 15 percent of its workforce, which the company’s LinkedIn profile says includes “over 1,200 people,” across its divisions in Canada, the U.K., Poland, India, and the Czech Republic.

“Whilst Sumo has been able to manage through many of the recent difficulties the games industry has faced, we have not been immune and reshaping operations across the business to better navigate the upcoming challenges expected in the coming months is a path we must now take to ensure the security of the business going forward,” the statement reads. 

Sumo Digital was involved with Forza Horizon 5 and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre multiplayer game, both of which sold well, though its in-house projects, including Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Hood: Outlaws and Legends fared poorly both critically and commercially.

“This is an incredibly challenging process to go through for everyone at Sumo and our focus is now on supporting our people and working with our partners on their games as we move forward to ensure we emerge from this difficult time, ready for the future.”

The news comes just days after Sumo showcased its upcoming racing game Deathsprint at the PC Gaming Show and follows months of layoffs across the industry, most recently at Sega and Lionbridge, a group that handles contract work for Activision and whose recent unionization efforts reportedly sparked the layoffs.