Shortly after Boltgun 2: Warhammer studio Auroch Digital cuts a quarter of its roles
The Bristol-based British studio cites difficult market conditions – even though its latest shooter is doing well with critics and players.
Symbolic image · Photo: mattbuck / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
British developer Auroch Digital, based in Bristol, plans to cut around a quarter of its roles. In a since-deleted LinkedIn post, the studio said it had begun a redundancy consultation process “affecting around a quarter of roles”. The same market conditions that have challenged so many other developers have now affected Auroch too, it said, adding that it had decided to restructure the studio to get through a “turbulent and uncertain time” in the industry.
Auroch did not say how many people are affected. According to This Week in Videogames, the studio had an average of 93 employees in its most recent UK accounts. Auroch is best known for the retro shooter Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun; the sequel Boltgun 2 launched on 14 October and holds 83 on OpenCritic and a 96 per cent positive user rating on Steam.
According to Gematsu, development and support for Warhammer Survivors and continued support for Boltgun 2 will carry on. The studio said it is “immensely proud” of its team and deeply sorry for the situation. The move adds to a series of cuts across the industry – most recently at Sucker Punch and Xbox.