Less than three months after the release of its debut title, Tales of Kenzera: Less than three months after the release of Tales of Kenzera, Surgent Studios laid off "just over 10" employees.

The layoffs were initially reported by several Surgent employees who posted about the layoffs on LinkedIn (via Game Developer). Producer Philip Smy became "another casualty of the Wild West industry of video game development," and level designer Pete Brisbourne wrote, "The chapter titled "Pete Works At Surgent Studios" closes at the end of this month. Pete Brisbourne writes. Several Surgent employees have now added an "open to work" sign to their profile pictures.

Hours after the initial report, Surgent Studios confirmed the layoffs on Twitter.

"Unfortunately, Surgent has seen an increase in the number of game studios affected by layoffs this year, with just over 10 affected. While these are difficult times in the gaming industry, we take great pride in the work of our entire team at Zau and the praise we have received from critics and players alike. We are now focused on helping those affected, continuing work on 'Zau' and looking to the future with our next creative project."

[8 [The number of employees at Surgent Studios prior to the layoffs was not disclosed. According to the studio's LinkedIn page, the number of employees ranges from 11 to 50, with 37 LinkedIn users "associated" with Surgent.

"This hurts me deeply," studio founder and CEO Abubakar Salim said in a separate message. 'This is not the news I wanted to share today.

"I am so proud of what our team has accomplished over the past four years. When the going got tough, every one of them stood up very strong and were an inspiration. So it is really hard for me to share this news today. I know we are not alone here, but that doesn't make it any easier."

"Tales of Kesera": Zau, a metroidvania "inspired by Bantu stories" that also depicts Salim's own grief after the death of his father, was well received when it was released in March. But the player count, at least on Steam, does not suggest big sales numbers: at its peak on Steam, the game had just 258 simultaneous players, and now has just 19. The game was also the target of a campaign of "targeted harassment" initiated by Salim by "those who see diversity as a threat."

Sales figures have not been released, but in June Salim denied reports that "Tales of Kesera" was not selling well: in June, Salim denied reports that "Tales of Kesera Zau" was not selling well, saying that "the poor sales are only a few actual players percent, and those who want to provide "proof" that the harassment campaign was successful are punishing us by daring to take up space."