Thick As Thieves Developer OtherSide Entertainment Lays Off 18 People

For the second time in a month, Thick as Thieves developer OtherSide Entertainment is laying off over a dozen people.

First reported by Game Developer, the Boston, Massachusetts-based studio is letting go of 18 more employees. This follows the 17 people who were let go earlier this month.

Current Company Makeup Wasn’t “Commercially Viable”

In a statement given to Game Developer, a spokesperson for OtherSide Entertainment confirmed the layoffs. The spokesperson also said that the studio’s development of immersive sim games has been “an increasingly challenging space to occupy.”

“OtherSide’s DNA is built on immersive sim games that have lengthy development cycles,” the company said. “This, unfortunately, has been an increasingly challenging space to occupy in recent years. Despite the encouraging response to the launch of Thick as Thieves’ introductory campaign, it has become clear that the continuation of the studio in its current shape is no longer a commercially viable path.”

The company added that it was “deeply grateful” to the staff for the work they’ve done, and that it regrets having to make the decision it did.

Thick as Thieves launched on May 20 and peaked with over 1,100 concurrent players on Steam. Since then, however, the stealth-action heist game has seen its player totals fall. It’s currently unknown how well the game performed on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. But if the team is suffering through layoffs twice in a month, it can be assumed the game performed below expectations.

What do you think the future holds for Thick as Thieves and developer OtherSide Entertainment?  Leave your thoughts in the comments below, or join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming Discord.

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