Lightspeed LA, the studio that unveiled the futuristic action game Last Sentinel at The Game Awards 2023, has announced a change in the project's creative and production direction. The decision was made after extensive internal reviews and game testing to, according to the developers, "create the experience players expect."
However, the restructuring did not come without layoffs. Lightspeed LA's official statement says that the changes will affect "some positions," but the exact number of laid-off employees has not been disclosed. According to GamesBeat, approximately 80 employees are affected.
The company emphasized that affected employees will be provided with support and, where possible, offered transfers to other departments.
If the information about the scale of the layoffs is confirmed, the cuts will be quite significant. According to available data, the Lightspeed LA office in Irvine, California, which also includes its own motion capture studio, employed about 130 people. Thus, more than half of the employees could have lost their jobs.
The project is led by Steve S. Martin, former head of Rockstar San Diego studio. Last Sentinel is set in a futuristic, partially submerged Tokyo. The main character will be a peacekeeper named Hiromi, but plot details are still kept secret.