Follow-up paragraph:
According to multiple LinkedIn posts, laid-off staff include several senior roles, though it is not yet known whether the cuts extend beyond those who have publicly shared their departures or what prompted them. RPS has contacted Yellow Brick Games for comment and awaits a response.
Subheading 1: The studio behind Eternal Strands
Yellow Brick Games was co-founded in 2020 by Mike Laidlaw, best known as the original creative force behind BioWare’s Dragon Age series, alongside a group of former Ubisoft developers. The team went on to develop and self-publish Eternal Strands in January 2025 — its first release and thus far only game. A free DLC expansion followed in April of that same year, extending an already well-received action-adventure RPG that drew comparisons to titles such as Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The studio’s headcount was reported at 68 people as of April 2024, according to coverage at the time of Eternal Strands’ announcement. That figure now provides a rough sense of scale for what could be a significant reduction.
Subheading about who was laid off:
From posts on LinkedIn, several departed employees have named their roles publicly. Among them are Senior Environment and Hard Surface Artist Derian McCrea, Graphics Engineer Adam Clapsaddle, Software Programmer Rebecca Bélanger, QA Lead Jessica Chapados Arseneault, and Senior Level Designer Julien Tonsuso. It remains unclear whether additional staff have been let go beyond those who have spoken out, or whether there was a specific reason behind the cuts.
Context paragraph (broader industry):
The news arrives amid a fresh wave of layoffs across the games sector. In just the past few days, reports emerged of job cuts at Ninja Theory and Supermassive Games, adding to a long-running series of often poorly timed redundancies that seem to punctuate the industry on an almost weekly basis. Microsoft recently pressed ahead with plans to cut some 3,200 workers, with hundreds of redundancies spread across multiple studios — including Ninja Theory and nearly half the staff at World’s Edge, the team behind Age of Empires. CD Projekt Red, Epic Games, and Ubisoft have all eliminated positions or closed teams in 2026 alone.
Closing paragraph (looking ahead):
As of now, Yellow Brick Games has not publicly addressed the layoffs, and details about affected employees’ severance or the studio’s plans moving forward remain scarce. With Eternal Strands still its sole release, questions linger over how the small team intends to proceed. RPS will continue to follow this story and update readers as more information becomes available.
Let me count words roughly… that looks like around 450-500 words. Let me expand a bit to hit the 500-800 range while maintaining quality. I can add more context about Eternal Strands, Mike Laidlaw’s background, and the industry layoffs detail.
Let me refine and expand:
This is internally a bit inconsistent
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