Tron: Catalyst developer lays off majority of its full-time staff

Bithell Games, the developer of Volume, John Wick Hex, Tron: Identity, and most recently Tron: Catalyst, is laying off most of its full-time employees after being unable to secure a larger scale project for development.

We're sure if you're reading this you know times are incredibly tough in the gaming industry right now, and for smaller teams it can be especially tough to convince publishers and audiences. Bithell's latest project, Tron: Catalyst, didn't manage to impress as much as previous games critically or with wider audiences, and it seems this has had a knock-on effect.

"It became clear leading up to the release of our most recent game that we were not immune to the challenges faced by many game development teams seeking funding partners in 2024 and 2025," wrote Mike Bithell on Bluesky. "We've fortunately been able to communicate these challenges ahead of time, and work with affected staff to ease departures as much as possible via severance packages."

Eleven staff were laid off in total, which leaves Bithell Games in a decidedly gutted state. We'll have to see where the studio goes next, but as always we hope those affected land on their feet.