The press release from the Milanese company does not cause any qualms. According to Digital Bros, consumers have become more selective again since the end of the pandemic and tend to take refuge in known licenses and play the same titles for a long time. “ Digital Bros has had to adapt its strategy to this new and evolving competitive scenario and will focus its efforts on releasing sequels and new versions of already established and successful games, with a limited number of new, bigger budget productions “, we can read.
This restructuring, which will cost some 130 people their jobs, has already sealed the fate of a certain number of games in preparation. “ In order to prioritize high-quality, long-running blockbuster titles, Digital Bros has reconsidered the number of projects currently in development and, as such, will revise the structure of the organization accordingly to align with the evolution of the competitive environment in the medium and long term in order to guarantee maximum operational efficiency. »
In the land of beautiful formulations intended for shareholders, there was clearly no room left to express thanks or regrets towards the employees swept aside.
Priority to safe values
Among the sequels currently in development that have no worries include Assetto Corsa 2, Control 2 and Bloodstained 2, the first named being expected in the summer of 2024. Ghostrunner 2 has also just been released in winning the support of the press and the public. In November 2021, 505 Games also signed with MercurySteam to produce a 3rd person dark fantasy action-RPG under the code name Project Iron.
Founded in 1989 by brothers Abramo and Raffaele Galante, Digital Bros began as a simple distributor of video games in Italy before creating the publishing label 505 Games in 2007. The group now has seven internal studios, all of which are potentially affected by these layoffs: DR Studios, Kunos Simulazioni, Avantgarden, Infinity Plus, Supernova Games, Nesting Games and Ingame Studios.
Assetto Corsa remains the group’s main intellectual property with 8 million copies sold and 115 million euros in turnover since its beginnings. 505 Games also helped finance Control and published Death Stranding on PC (and soon on iOS). It also publishes games from independent studios like Terraria, Bloodstained, Indivisible and soon Eiyuden Chronicles.