IO Interactive has regained full ownership of Project Fantasy following the tip of the sport’s external finance partnership, and the studio says it can now develop and fund the web fantasy RPG independently alongside its other projects. Holding onto the IP got here at a value, though. As a part of what the studio calls “hard, but crucial decisions,” IOI is closing its Istanbul studio and starting a process to part ways with employees across the corporate.
For individuals who haven’t been following along, IOI announced Project Fantasy back in February 2023 as a web based fantasy RPG set in an original universe, inspired by classic tabletop role-playing games. The studio has never named its finance partner on the project, but Bloomberg reported it was Microsoft, and the funding fell through just ahead of the most important restructure in XBOX history, which is cutting 3,200 jobs. IOI disclosed the tip of the partnership last week and warned then that staffing decisions would follow. Today’s statement makes all that official.
The cuts land on an organization that had spent the past several years expanding. IOI grew from its Copenhagen headquarters to 5 studios, opening Malmö in 2019, Barcelona in 2021, and each Istanbul and Brighton in 2023. Reports put the Istanbul closure at roughly 40 jobs, and the layoffs reportedly reach into IOI’s other offices as well, including individuals who worked on 007 First Light. The studio is asking anyone with opportunities of their network to share them with affected employees.
The restructuring comes only weeks after 007 First Light launched on May 27, IOI’s first time self-publishing a project of that size. In my review, I called it a playable Bond movie and one in all the higher examples of story-driven third-person motion we’ve gotten in years. The statement frames the changes as a concentrate on IOI’s foremost internal titles as a substitute of external projects and potential mobile derivatives. The studio already parted ways with MindsEye developer Construct a Rocket Boy earlier this 12 months, and the classic Hitman trilogy remasters announced last month are being handled externally by Saber Interactive.
IOI says the moves are supposed to preserve its position as one in all the few fully independent AAA developers and publishers, and that it stays “wholly committed” to Project Fantasy. No release window has been shared for the sport, which now has to succeed with IOI footing the bill by itself.