Liquid Swords, a studio started by Christofer Sundberg, who previously founded Avalanche Studios (Just Cause, Mad Max), has confirmed a round of layoffs following a financial review. The company cited “the present challenges of the video game industry” as the reason for the redundancies. The number of affected employees is unknown.

Founded in 2020, Liquid Swords pledged to implement a “sustainable work model” and received an undisclosed investment from NetEase. In a statement issued by the studio (thanks, Game Developer), said that the layoffs were necessary to deliver “long-term sustainability”. An FAQ posted on the studio’s website reveals that Liquid Swords had ambitions to grow its headcount to 100 staff by early 2024; it remains unclear whether that target was achieved or the studio’s current size.

Liquid Swords is still developing its first game, which is pitched as a “narrative-driven, open-world, hardboiled triple-A revenge story, built and developed in Unreal Engine 5.”