Nightingale developer Inflexion closes UK office and ‘restructures’ Canadian studio

Nightingale developer Inflexion Games has announced it is closing its UK office and “restructuring” its Canadian studio, saying the early access launch of its Victorian fantasy survival game “was not successful enough to continue at (our) previous size.”

Nightingale released on Steam Early Access back in February, peaking at 47,569 concurrent players. But as those numbers dropped quickly and reviews remained average, Inflexion chief Aaryn Flynn admitted things were “not quite where we want them to be.” Six months later, Flynn shared a similar sentiment despite efforts to improve the situation, telling players: “We’re not happy with where the game is at, we’re not happy with the overall sentiment, we’re not happy with the number of players we have. “.

And, unfortunately, Inflexion is now beginning to feel more acutely the consequences of Nightingale’s struggle with early access. Following reports last week, Inflexion was set to close its UK division, with the studio confirming the news in a post posted on social media.

“The last few weeks here at Inflexion have been incredibly difficult, and no words can adequately express the sadness we feel,” Flynn wrote in a statement. “Like many studios over the past few years, we have been faced with the harsh realities of the industry, and after exploring all our options, we have had to make the difficult decision to let go of some of our amazing and talented team. members.” Flynn did not specify the extent of the layoffs, but GamesIndustry.biz sources claim that “at least 22 people” will be affected by the cuts, “based on internal communications to which they had access.”

“While we are proud of what we have achieved with Nightingale to date, and the enthusiasm and support of our community,” Flynn continued, “the Early Access release was not commercially successful enough to warrant continued development at our studio. As a result, we are undergoing a restructuring process in Canada and are also closing our UK office. Our priority is to support every team member affected by layoffs to find new opportunities. them for their invaluable contribution to Nightingale’s work – this would not have been possible without their enormous talent and passion for adventure in the Faywilds.”

“While this is a difficult moment for the entire team, we will continue to work tirelessly alongside our players as we move forward as a studio,” Flynn concluded, adding that he will “be available to answer community questions” and provide more details on future Nightingale updates to come in the near future. “I hope our players will join me in expressing our heartfelt gratitude to our departing team members for all they contributed to.”

Today’s news continues a devastating 2024 for the gaming industry, with some 13,000 industry employees believed to have lost their jobs since the start of the year – and that’s in addition to the 10,500 workers laid off in 2023. So why are these layoffs happening? GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring shared his thoughts earlier this year.