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Wayfinder dev Airship Syndicate lays off 16 employees

Airship Syndicate has made its second round of layoffs this year, while reaffirming its commitment to a revamp of Wayfinder and unannounced 'future projects.'

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

September 23, 2024

1 Min Read
Splash art for 2024's Wayfinder.
Image via Airship Syndicate.

Wayfinder developer Airship Syndicate has laid off 16 employees. 12 full-time workers and four contractors were impacted by the cuts, which follow a layoff round in January that resulted in 12 employees being let go.

Co-founders Ryan Stefanelli and Joe Madureira said the layoffs were made in response to the "difficult challenges facing our industry." They confirmed the pay cuts they took in January are still in effect, and that they have been self-funding the studio.

Airship Syndicate and Digital Extremes

In November 2023, Airship Syndicate ended its relationship with publisher Digital Extremes. The studio was given full rights to its free-to-play action MMO Wayfinder, which it delisted in May to "make changes."

Those tweaks involved removing live-service elements in favor of creating a single-player experience with co-op. The revamped version is currently in Early Access.

Madureira and Stefanelli said the 50-person Airship Syndicate team is "committed" to realising Wayfinder's roadmap and "developing future projects." At time of writing, those projects remain under wraps.

"We extend our deepest gratitude to all of our employees," they concluded, "both past and present, for their hard work and dedication."

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About the Author

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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