And even more layoffs: 505 Games shuts Spain, France, and Germany offices

News of Digital Bros. (and its publishing subsidiare 505 Games) going through a restructuring process aren't new. It was back in November when, among 2023's layoff whirl, they announced they were cutting 30% of their jobs, mostly affecting development studios' workforce. The downsizing, same as the international trend, seem to keep going, and it now affects the offices of the Italian multinational company scattered around Europe.

As Gamereactor can now confirm, and similarly to EA, Activision, or 2K Games in recent years, 505 Games will now be locally unrepresented with branches in the Old World. This means that, other than the Milan-based HQ, and preserving the British company given its operative difference, Germany, Spain, and France are being shut down (some after 15+ years of activity), thus putting an end to marketing, communication, and relations activities.

The number of employees isn't as big as last year's as it's under 10 people affected, but it does mean the significant loss of direct regional relations, a move that other publishers made before with questionable results.

All eyes on Control 2, Assetto Corsa 2, and Project Iron

And what about ongoing projects? While today's news doesn't directly affect the development and publishing divisions, in parallel there has been the coincidental announcement that Remedy is now keeping the rights to Control for its sequel and what's to come, when they had gone all the way hand in hand with 505 Games up to this point to make Control 2 a reality.

The second big question mark hangs over an Assetto Corsa 2 that was expected to be on the grid in 2024. The relationship with Roman studio Kunos Simulazioni is naturally closer, and it now remains to be seen how the label will handle what was undoubtedly set to be its flagship release for the current year, given the ongoing restructuring and direct studio layoffs last year.

Finally, let's not forget the big AAA dark fantasy project that 505 Games was set to release, developed by MercurySteam. We learned more exclusively about Project Iron, its storytelling and powerful graphics by talking to its director Enric Álvarez last summer, and while the game wasn't expected until late 2024 or early 2025, and even if the studio is keeping the IP and is totally independent from Digital Bros, it remains to be seen how the publisher's belt-tightening on all fronts might impact its schedule.