Moss Developer Polyarc Announces Layoffs After Failing to Secure Funding for Next Game

As games become tougher to develop, it is increasingly difficult for studios to secure funding. The challenge of finding funding from publishers has grown significantly, with fewer publishers willing to take “that risk” without the guarantee of a large return. More and more indie studios continue to pop up nearly every day, and there is only so much money to go around.

This appears to be the case even for studios with successful games and years of experience, as Moss developer Polyarc has laid off approximately 30 employees due to a lack of funding for their next project.

For those who haven’t played Moss or Moss II, both titles are VR games and are considered among the best puzzle games in the VR space. However, the VR landscape has not been doing well as of late. In fact, VR itself hasn’t performed well for years, and we’ve seen companies like Sony reduce support in the VR space, with PSVR 2 seemingly being pushed aside.

Polyarc shared the unfortunate news on their LinkedIn page:

“After an unsuccessful team-wide effort to secure funding following the cancellation of a major project, we had to make the decision to significantly reduce the size of the company. This means we’re saying goodbye to many talented people who have been a meaningful part of what we’ve built.

We want to thank everyone impacted. Your work, creativity, and care mattered. We made wonderful games together, and we would not have made it this far without you. Your contributions will continue to shape our culture and the games we make.

Polyarc is home to exceptional developers across all disciplines. If you are hiring, please contact us. We are happy to make introductions.”

We hope those affected are able to find new opportunities soon during these challenging times. What do you think about Polyarc being hit with layoffs? Let us know in the comments.