GamesIndustry reports that Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun developer Auroch Digital appears to be headed toward significant layoffs. In a statement posted to LinkedIn, since deleted but reported by GamesIndustry and others, the studio said that despite its “creative success, the same market conditions that have challenged so many of our fellow developers have now also affected us.” As a result, Auroch Digital is restructuring, and has begun a redundancy consultation process that will impact “around a quarter” of its employees.
“Over the past year our colleagues have delivered amazing games like Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 and Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! to wonderful reception from our players,” the Auroch Digital statement said.
“Despite that creative success, the same market conditions that have challenged so many of our fellow developers have now also affected us. Consequently, we have made the decision to restructure the studio to work through a turbulent and uncertain time in our industry.”
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As noted, that message has since been deleted, and there’s no trace of it elsewhere, aside from gaming sites that have previously reported on it. However, at least two Auroch Digital employees have also reported the redundancy notification.
Assuming there’s not been some massive miscommunication here, the cuts come despite a good run for Auroch Digital over the past few years. Released in 2023, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun was “the first truly exceptional Warhammer 40,000 game since Dawn of War,” we declared in our 85% review; the follow-up, Boltgun 2, is “sick,” in the words of PC Gamer shooter expert Morgan Park, and currently holds an “overwhelmingly positive” rating on Steam.
Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War didn’t meet quite the same enthusiastic response—I enjoyed the preview build I played but our reviewer Nova Wright did not care for the full release—but the studio also has Warhammer Survivors in the pipe, set to launch on November 10, and it looks very promising.
The apparent setback arrives less than a year after Auroch Digital was acquired by Roundtable Interactive in a deal backed by EMK Capital.
Regardless, the situation is somewhat puzzling. Why Auroch Digital would announce the impending layoff of a quarter of its workforce—which evidently occurred—and then remove all trace of that message shortly afterward remains anyone’s guess, though there is strong reason to suspect no satisfactory explanation exists. The studio has been contacted for comment, and this piece will be updated should a response be received.
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