Cozy MMO Palia seemingly on the rocks after studio goes through a third round of layoffs, this time affecting 40% of staff

Singularity 6’s third set of cutbacks in only nine months

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Singularity 6, the studio behind cozy MMO Palia, is laying off about 40% of its staff.

The Palia developer has let go of around 36 employees - 40% of its workforce - according to Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter, potentially leaving the future of the online game on the rocks. This is Singularity 6’s third round of cutbacks in only nine months after the studio laid off 49 employeesin Apriland made a smaller round of cuts in September 2023. “Two sources said a bunch of people left after the April layoffs, leaving the staff much smaller,” reads a follow-uptweet.

Palia began its Open Beta tenure exclusively on theEpic GamesStore last year and debuted on Steam in March 2024. Various post-release updates turned the chill online game into a not-so-chill time for some beta players, though, with Palia’s"first real patch"andfirst major event,which both drew complaints from players looking for only the most stress-free additions.

Despite drawing the eye of Stardew Valley fans before release, Palia currently has a ‘Mixed’ rating based on over 7,000Steamuser reviews, citing bugs and the lack of an Early Access tag on the game’s storefront page as the biggest complaints.

Singularity 6’s cutbacks follow a string of layoffs hitting the games industry this year withSony laying off around 90 employees,Microsoft cutting almost 2,000 jobsbeforeclosing several studios under the Bethesda umbrellajust last week, and similar events across EA, Embracer’s many studios, and much more.

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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that’s vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he’ll soon forget.

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