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Lichdom: Battlemage Studio Xaviant Restructures, Suffering Significant Layoffs
Update: It appears that Xaviant has not completely closed, but instead has undergone a significant transformation involving numerous layoffs. The studio will continue on.
In a Facebook post, CEO Mike McCain addresses the situation:
As some of you may have heard, Xaviant has gone through a change in size and structure today. We said goodbye to many of our friends and colleagues and wish them the very best.
Why did we do this? It became clear after the last game that the kind of investment we made is simply not sustainable. Despite all the passion and emotional drive you might have on a project you still need to be financially viable. To that end we have brought the studio to a size where it is more manageable, nimble and better suited to make a game that can be deemed a financial success.
Those of us remaining are very excited about what this means for the future despite feeling sad at no longer being able to work with all of the friends we have made. Keep your eyes here though and we will inform you of our new plans when we can. Until then keep our friends in your thoughts and if you know of opportunities, please reach out to them.
Michael McMain
CEO, Xaviant
Original Story:
The developer behind 2014’s Lichdom: Battlemage, Xaviant, has closed. The studio, founded in 2007, Lichdom was the studio’s first title.
According to the company’s website, the studio employed over 50 individuals. The statement about the developer’s creative vision also acknowledges the risk of independent development.
“Our road is risky, but that just fuels our passion,” the company says. “We have no safety net - we have only the strength of our ideas, our desire to succeed, and the unfettered creativity of those not bound by unspoken agendas.”
We were alerted first to the closure via the Twitter account of Josh Olin, the studio’s Community director.
Wellp. My first time experiencing a studio closure. Can confirm they suck.
— Josh Olin (@JD_2020) March 25, 2015
Xaviant communicated an available job opening for an office manager as recently as March 4, indicating that whatever occurred at the studio became critical recently.
While Xaviant may be closing, it's not too late to play Lichdom: Battlemage. You can read more about it in our review.
[Source: Josh Olin on Twitter]
Our Take
Our thoughts are with Xaviant's employees. As someone who enjoyed Lichdom: Battlemage, I'm saddened to see a talented group of developers have to part ways like this.
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