The development team behind the recently released bullet hell first-person shooter Luna Abyss has been laid off, according to a LinkedIn post from Kwalee Labs CEO Hollie Emery on June 16. Emery stated that the decision for the redundancy of the entire nine-person team was "completely outside of our control." The affected developers are now available for new opportunities.
Luna Abyss launched on May 21, merging the fast-paced, pattern-heavy nature of bullet hell games with the first-person perspective of an FPS. In impressions shared last month, it was noted that this fusion offered a fresh take on the genre, particularly by placing players in a first-person view which limits peripheral vision compared to other bullet hell titles. Despite critical praise, the game’s commercial performance on Steam appears to have been low, with a peak concurrent player count of 317 and a current count of around 43.
This situation serves as a stark reminder of the volatile nature of employment in the video game industry, where even critically successful titles do not always guarantee job security for their creators. The layoffs occurred less than a month after Luna Abyss's release, significantly shortening its potential window for player acquisition and commercial success.