Astroneer studio System Era lays off 30+ developers after Starseeker's early access underperforms
Another space game studio is shrinking. System Era Softworks, the Seattle team behind Astroneer, has laid off more than 30 people after its follow-up, Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, came in under expectations in early access, Vertical Slice reports. The studio has been owned by Devolver Digital since 2023.
According to Inven Global, the cuts hit artists, designers, engineers, producers, writers and QA, and the studio says affected staff get severance and job-search support. “A day like today goes against everything we set out to be as a studio,” the announcement reads, as quoted by Massively Overpowered. “We’re deeply sorry to everyone affected.”
Why it happened: Communications and marketing director Joe Tirado didn’t sugarcoat it on Reddit. “We had to make these cuts because Starseeker underperformed at Early Access launch,” he wrote. “We made a big bet and it didn’t go the way we planned, so the Starseeker team is getting smaller while they make a sustainable push to 1.0 that matches the userbase size.” He added that Astroneer “is still very successful as a game,” but couldn’t cover the cost of everyone hired to ship Starseeker.
Starseeker launched into early access in June on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. It’s a co-op exploration game in the Astroneer universe, and Tirado says it has had “hundreds of thousands of players,” but reviews were mixed over its changes to Astroneer’s formula and its heavier multiplayer focus.
What’s next: Starseeker is still going to 1.0, just with fewer people. Oddly, the Astroneer team is getting bigger, since longtime developers are moving back and the studio is bringing outsourced Astroneer work in-house. Tirado says it’s “way too early to talk about roadmaps,” but 2027 planning is already underway.
PPR take: Astroneer is one of the coziest space sandboxes out there, so it’s rough to see the team behind it take a hit like this. Our best to everyone affected, and if you’re hiring, there are 30-plus talented people looking.