Kwalee Labs Lays Off Entire Team Just Weeks After It Released Luna Abyss - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 16 June 2026 / 1,925 Views
Developer Kwalee Labs has laid off its entire team less than a month after it released Luna Abyss.
"I have some sad news from the team behind the critically-acclaimed Luna Abyss, which launched a few weeks ago," said Kwalee Labs CEO Hollie Emery in a LinkedIn post.
"We're enamoured by the love and support it received both by our industry and critically by journalists and media. Whilst we faced many challenges along the way, it has been the highlight of our careers - and we are incredibly proud that it has finally seen the light of day (thank you to everyone who believed in us!).
"Unfortunately as of yesterday, the entire team has been made redundant; a decision that was completely outside of our control. As a result, the entire team are available for work as of today.
"The team are an incredibly talented, senior bunch of developers - independent spirit mixed with an AAA-class dedication to quality. Specialists in Unreal Engine, and absolute pros at delivering high-quality, award-winning, optimised projects to vision. I am so proud of what we were able to achieve with Luna Abyss, for such a small team, in a genre that is incredibly difficult to hit a good review score in!"
Luna Abyss released for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store, and Xbox Game pass on May 21.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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No one seems to care unless its Sony, MS or Nintendo.
This was their first game by the looks of it while Kwalee is mainly a publisher, publishing games like currently reviewed on this very website Call of the Elder Gods or the Grime games. Feels like the publisher didn't even give the studio or game a chance before deciding development was not for them. Sell the game for GP money, close up the studio and sticking to publishing I guess. Hope the devs can find work.
