Layoffs after a launch are normal. Studios don’t need the same set of employees to support a game after launch, or to start on a new one as they do to finish a release. There is a lot of turnover in the industry because of it. Not every position is needed from beginning to end over several years.
Not everyone working on games are direct employees either, some will be contract. And bonuses can still be paid out after people are no longer actively needed if that was part of the pay structure they had. We don’t know exactly how all of that was setup at IOI.
Layoffs after a launch are normal. Studios don’t need the same set of employees to support a game after launch, or to start on a new one as they do to finish a release. There is a lot of turnover in the industry because of it. Not every position is needed from beginning to end over several years.
Not everyone working on games are direct employees either, some will be contract. And bonuses can still be paid out after people are no longer actively needed if that was part of the pay structure they had. We don’t know exactly how all of that was setup at IOI.