Less than one month after Xbox spun off Double Fine Productions as an independent studio, the developer has laid off 23 employees, a move it says was necessary to ensure "the survival of our studio."

"Our transition to becoming an independent company means becoming a size that we can sustain," Double Fine said in a message shared on Bluesky. "The people we are losing were all important. They all made an impact on our games and culture, and they will be missed."

The layoffs at Double Fine are sad but not entirely unexpected. Xbox earned plaudits from some corners of fandom for allowing Double Fine to go independent as part of its July restructuring that saw 3,200 people put out of work, but the reality is that without Microsoft backing, the sudden transition to independence for a studio famed for its offbeat, modestly selling games—especially given the current state of the industry—is fraught.

Compulsion Games, the other studio Microsoft cut loose as an indie, put out the word that it needs work just one week later. Prior to the Xbox layoffs earlier this month, numerous Compulsion employees began looking for new jobs, presumably on the assumption that their positions at the studio would likely be lost.

It's not known how many employees remain at Double Fine following the layoffs, but Bloomberg's Jason Schreier said the studio had 90 employees prior to the cuts.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.