WB Games Montreal Reportedly Lays Off 99 Employees

The industry is witnessing another case that falls under the dark curse of game flops and job cuts. This time, it’s DC Comics-based Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, developed by Rocksteady and published by Warner Bros. Games. Following the announcement that the game would stop receiving updates in January 2025, the sad news comes that 99 developers will lose their jobs in the upcoming eight weeks. 

According to CBC Radio Canada’s report, the majority of those affected are QA staff at WB Games Montreal, who are subcontractors hired through Keywords, an allegedly No.1 global games services provider that helped studios with game development, including providing art, QA testing services, localization, marketing, and more. 

One source told the outlet that there are two choices offered: one is getting help finding a new job, and the other is being listed on a recall list and waiting to be called back when there’s work available, which the source mentioned might be possible until 2026. 

Earlier in September, the game’s underperformance reportedly led the developer Rocksteady to lay off staff members, and the QA department lost over half of its employees, decreasing from 33 to 15 in August. Not only junior members but also some staff members who have been working at Rocksteady for longer than five years were let go. An employee was even let go during paternity leave. 

It has recently become a most hated thing for me to cover layoffs happening during the should-be-happy period before Christmas. People Can Fly, the Poland-based studio behind titles like Outriders and Bulletstorm, has laid off over 120 employees in the last month of 2024, which marks its second round of job cuts within this year. Exactly the same thing happened to Deck Nine Games, creator of several games in the Life is Strange franchise, which also made an “extremely difficult decision” a few days ago.