No matter who you are, right now the games industry is a tough place, as Humanoid Origin, the new studio from the director of Mass Effect, is shutting down.
It feels like every single week over the past year has had some kind of announcement of layoffs, shutterings, or otherwise, and unfortunately this week is no different. Back in 2021, Casey Hudson, the director of the original Mass Effect trilogy (and lead in the early days of the much less well received Anthem) announced that he’d formed a new studio, Humanoid Origin, and that it would be developing an “all-new IP”. Well, that’s no longer the case, as yesterday the official LinkedIn page for Humanoid Origin shared a post announcing that it would be shutting down due to a lack of funding. “Earlier today, we informed our staff that Humanoid Origin will be shutting down,” reads the post. “Despite efforts to shield the studio from broader challenges in the industry, an unexpected shortfall of funding left us unable to sustain operations.
“We’re heartbroken that we will not be able to bring our new science-fiction universe to completion. Our main concern at this time however is for our team, and we are committed to supporting them in their transition to new employment. In our time together, the team achieved incredible progress, and demonstrated that it’s possible to do amazing work while fostering a culture of fun and creativity. We thank them for their talent, courage, and friendship. Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout our journey.”
This is obviously an upsetting turn of events, and what’s even worse is that it’s not even that uncommon. Funding has been another growing issue over the past year, aside from the 14,000+ layoffs that have taken place in just 2024 alone. Fingers crossed everyone at the studio can land on their feet.