Skydance Games Cuts Jobs Following Warner Bros. and Paramount Merger

Skydance Games has carried out a round of layoffs, a little more than a month after the merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount reshaped its video game operations.

On Oct. 6, the Skydance-owned Paramount Games Studio was combined with Warner Bros. Games' internal development teams. The studios brought under one roof include Avalanche Software, the maker of "Hogwarts Legacy," as well as NetherRealm Studios, Rocksteady Studios, TT Games and the WB Games teams based in Montreal and Boston.

The consolidation went beyond game development. Paramount and Warner Bros.' games teams were also merged with the companies' experiences divisions, creating a single unit responsible for projects built on a large library of intellectual property.

That catalog spans Paramount franchises such as "Star Trek," "Mission: Impossible," "SpongeBob SquarePants," "South Park," "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Godfather," alongside Warner Bros. properties including "Harry Potter," the DC Universe, "Mortal Kombat," "The Matrix," "Rick and Morty" and "Game of Thrones."

As part of the restructuring, Skydance promoted Tony Driscoll to head the combined games and experiences unit. Driscoll had been named head of Paramount's newly launched video game studio in June, an operation that itself was formed by combining Paramount and Skydance's gaming assets.

In a statement to Variety on Monday, a Skydance spokesperson said: "As part of our ongoing efforts to position Skydance Games for long-term growth and success, we are implementing reorganization and operational shifts across a few areas of our business."

"We have stepped back and taken some time to consider where we are investing our efforts and have made the difficult decision to scale down some of our projects. As a result, there are roles impacted," the spokesperson added.

The company stressed that the cuts were not a judgment on the employees affected. "This is not a reflection of the talent, dedication, or creativity of those affected and we are grateful for their contributions," the spokesperson said, adding that Skydance is "committed to approaching the process with transparency, care and respect for those who are leaving the company."

The source report did not disclose how many employees were let go or which specific projects were scaled back.