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Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Games confirms layoffs amid industry 'turmoil'Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Games confirms layoffs amid industry 'turmoil'

The studio intends to reshape into small teams working on 'novel game ideas brought to players as early as possible.'

Chris Kerr, News Editor

February 24, 2025

2 Min Read
The Bossa Games logo on an orange background
image via Bossa

Bossa Games has laid off an undisclosed number of employees due to what it has branded a "fundamental transformation of the games industry."

The Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread developer previously laid off around one third of its workforce in January 2024. Roughly 40 people remained with the studio following those redundancies.

Now, just over a year later, studio CEO Henrique Olifiers has confirmed the company is making additional cuts in a bid to survive.

"The past couple of years have brought a significant amount of disruption to the games industry at large, with treasured studios, teams, and games being shut down or significantly scaled back. We've all read the news, suffered through the changes ourselves or seen it through the eyes of peers and colleagues affected," wrote Olifiers in a statement published on Linkedin.

"In our view this is not a phase, it's a fundamental transformation of the games industry, a reshape of how games are made and by what kinds of teams. The industry of two years in the future will not look like the industry of two years ago."

Olifiers said Bossa is scaling back with that transformation in mind and will now focus on the late-stage production of Lost Skies, its upcoming co-operative survival adventure published by Humble Games.

"Once Lost Skies is established and enjoying live operations, we'll reshape into small teams working independently on novel game ideas brought to players as early as possible," continues the post.

"This means saying vey difficult goodbyes to extremely talented and treasured colleagues, truly some of the best people in the games industry, who have been part of our journey for a long time. We wish we had found a way of navigating this turmoil without resorting to the decision of scaling back our teams, but unfortunately we've failed in this endeavour."

Game Developer has reached out to Bossa for more information about the cuts.

About the Author

Chris Kerr

News Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.

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