GOG Lays Off “around a Dozen” Staff Amid Reports of Financial Issues

GOG, the digital PC gaming storefront, has laid off around a dozen staff members, with the gaming retailer failing to provide a reason for the layoffs when asked. 

A report from Kotaku has claimed that GOG is suffering from financial issues, with their source, a former member of staff, claiming that they were told the layoffs were a “financial decision” and that the company is “dangerously close to being in the red”. GOG countered by stating that the company was restructuring and that they currently have 20 open positions. 

In an official statement, GOG stated that they “have been rearranging certain teams since October 2018″, a move with resulted in “losing around a dozen of positions last week”. The company also claimed that they have welcomes almost two times as many people into the company during the same timeframe, making it unclear what is happening to GOG internally. 

Over the past number of months, the PC gaming landscape has seen significant change, with the Epic Games Store, and its lower than standard 12% revenue share, being set to have a dramatic impact on the PC gaming landscape. This change could force GOG to cut its revenue share of game sales, making the company less profitable. 

In 2018, CD Projekt, the owner of GOG, released Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales as a GOG exclusive, only to later release the game on Steam after sales failed to reach expectations. When we contacted the Cyberpunk 2077 team, we were told that “Exclusives are not fun” when we asked about the game’s potential GOG exclusivity, pointing towards PC releases on multiple platforms.