The depressing, alarming, and infuriating trend of layoffs in the video game industry continued unabated today with news that Avalanche Studios Group, best known for its Just Cause series, is closing its two offices in Montreal and New York, leaving about 50 people out of work.

"Since its inception more than two decades ago, Avalanche Studios Group has grown to encompass five locations around the world: Stockholm, New York, Malmö, Liverpool and Montreal,"Avalanche, " today we unfortunately announce the closure of 2 locations in New York and Montreal. This means that we are breaking up with about 9 dear friends and colleagues, who make up about 50% of avalanches around the world.

"This is a very difficult decision, but we believe it is necessary to ensure a stable and sustainable future for the company."

While Avalanche Studios has certainly been around for more than 20 years (the Avalanche Studios group encompassed the original Avalanche Studios and Expansive Worlds and Systemic Reaction, but it wasn't formed until 2020), the Montreal office will be in 2023-10, a studio founded by ASG veterans of Ubisoft in 2021. It was founded after the acquisition of Monster Closet, an online store. 

For those without a convenient calendar, it's eight months from acquisition to closure: It should be a kick of courage for Avalanche Montreal employees

The closure of the Avalanche office is the latest in a deluge of layoffs and shutdowns that have plagued the video game industry since early 2023. It is a thing. Just last week, Kerbal Space Program2 developers confirmed that layoffs are coming to intercept the game at the end of the month as part of a sweeping reduction in Take-Two Interactive.; At the beginning of May 5, Dauntless's developer, Phoenix Labs, fired "many" employees and canceled work on an unpublished project that the studio said was "a last resort to ensure Phoenix Labs survives.""