Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun Studio Auroch Digital Lays Off a Quarter of Its Staff, Then Deletes the Announcement

Auroch Digital, the British studio behind Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, Boltgun 2, Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! and the upcoming Warhammer Survivors, has begun a redundancy consultation process affecting around a quarter of its staff. The news came in a statement posted to LinkedIn, which the studio quickly took down afterward.

A Message That Didn’t Stay Up Long

Although Auroch Digital deleted its original post, the full text was captured and reported by GamesIndustry.biz and several other outlets before it disappeared, and at least two Auroch Digital employees have separately confirmed the redundancy notification on social media. The studio said that despite a strong run of releases, the broader market conditions affecting so many other developers this year have now caught up with it too, and that it had decided to restructure as a result.

“Turbulent and uncertain time in our industry.”

Auroch Digital, statement posted to social media

A Good Run Cut Short

The cuts come despite a genuinely strong stretch for the studio. The original Boltgun, released in 2023, was widely praised as one of the best Warhammer 40,000 games in years, and its sequel has kept up that momentum since launching earlier this month. Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! had a more mixed reception, but Auroch Digital still has Warhammer Survivors lined up for launch on November 10. Less than a year ago, the studio was acquired by Roundtable Interactive in a deal backed by EMK Capital. Auroch Digital says post-launch support for both Warhammer Survivors and Boltgun 2 will continue despite the restructuring.

Auroch Digital says post-launch support for Boltgun 2’s fast, chaotic combat will keep going despite the layoffs.

Part of a Wider Pattern

Auroch Digital is far from alone in cutting staff while its games are doing well. Earlier today, reports emerged that Sucker Punch had laid off 24 employees despite Ghost of Yotei’s strong sales, and the move follows other recent cuts across the industry, including EA shutting down BioWare entirely and Microsoft offering buyout packages to roughly a quarter of its global workforce. Why Auroch Digital chose to delete its own statement so soon after posting it remains unclear, and the studio has not yet publicly commented further.

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Picture Source: Auroch Digital