Closure of Humanoid Origin Signals Continued Turmoil in the Gaming Industry

The gaming industry has faced numerous challenges in recent years, leading to various closures and restructurings among studios. A recent announcement has drawn attention to another significant development in this landscape.

Humanoid Origin, a game studio established by the co-creator of a well-known sci-fi series, has decided to close its doors, as mentioned in an official announcement from the organization today.

The announcement on LinkedIn detailed that the closure was prompted by an unforeseen lack of financial support, despite attempts to safeguard the studio from the larger issues present within the sector.

Founded in June 2021, Humanoid Origin has had a brief existence of a little over three years. Initially introduced by Casey Hudson as Humanoid Studios following his exit from a prominent company the previous December, it was soon disclosed that the studio was developing a multi-platform, high-budget game set within a novel science fiction realm. In 2023, Hudson revealed that the company name would shift slightly to Humanoid Origin, emphasizing that within a space increasingly filled with AI-generated material, the imagination behind their games derives from the skilled individuals on the team. The studio was actively seeking new talent as recently as May.

This shutdown marks yet another instance in the ongoing trend of layoffs, studio closures, and canceled projects that have plagued the industry throughout 2023 and 2024. Approximately 14,000 developers have faced job losses in 2024 alone, following the loss of more than 10,000 positions the previous year. The reasons behind this trend and its effects on individual developers have been analyzed earlier, but it remains uncertain when this cycle of closures will begin to lessen.

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