Indie Publisher Humble Games Reportedly Shuts Down, 36 Jobs Lost

Humble Games, the indie publisher operating under the Humble Bundle marque owned by Ziff Davis–and operated under its IGN Entertainment subsidiary–has reportedly laid off its entire team of 36 employees, just days after its most recent release, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus.

The company, which also let go of an unspecified number of employees last November, published nearly 50 games since 2017, including small-studio bangers like Unpacking, Void Bastards, Prodeus, Signalis, and Slay the Spire.

The first news of the development came from Emilee Kieffer, a senior QA who cross-posted her LinkedIn post on X/Twitter, and said: “Well friends, me and the entirety of Humble Games was laid off this morning.”

They continued: “Every single person I worked with at Humble Games was an absolute delight. If any of them apply to your company, I would recommend them with all my heart. I’m devastated, I loved our team, I loved what we did, I loved everything about Humble Games and I will miss it.”

Kieffer’s positive reflections on Humble Games were shared by other colleagues who broke the news on LinkedIn. Nicole Kwan, HG’s business development manager, said: “Working at Humble Games was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had. Not only did I get to work with the most amazing team, I got to work with passionate developers and help create games that I genuinely believe will impact the industry as a whole.

“To my fellow ex-Humblers: Thank you for making this the best journey that I’ve had yet. I’m proud to call many of you not just former coworkers, but also friends (a testament to how incredible this team is considering we’re all remote and I haven’t met half of you IRL). I hope to cross paths again soon. To all the HG developers: Thank you for trusting us with your life’s work. I can’t express how much of an honor it is that you chose to work with all of us at HG.”

Former producer Kenny Schwarz added: “Like most of Humble Games today, I was notified that we were being laid off this morning. As much of a bummer as it is to be in this position, I still appreciate that it’s been an amazing experience to work with so many wonderful and talented people!”

Another seven titles–including sequels to Never Alone and Monaco–are named on Humble Games’ upcoming release list, but it’s not clear if the company will see these commitments out. I’ve reached out, and will update if and when the story develops.

Meanwhile, it will be business as usual for Humble Bundle, which operates through a separate team, as per Kieffer’s clarification on X/Twitter.