Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Developer Lays Off Majority of Its Staff

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture developer, The Chinese Room has temporarily ceased development and laid off the majority of its staff.

In a blog post on the company's website, studio co-founder Dan Pinchbeck explains the decision:

"The situation – between financial pressures, trying to keep the lights on for the employed team, the stress of end-of-development, health issues – just wasn’t a tenable thing anymore. It was time to take a break, recharge, recover and have a good think about the future"

"So we let our team go. Lay-offs are never pleasant, particularly when you’re all trying to wrap a game."

Only Pinchbeck, co-founder Jessica Curry and designer Andrew Crawshaw will remain part of the studio, which will be closing temporarily.

At the time of the lay-offs in June, the company was finishing up development on its latest project, VR title So Let Us Melt. Pinchbeck still wants to release two games currently in the early stages of development, Little Orpheus and a survival horror RPG called 13th Interior.

In an extensive interview with Eurogamer Pinchbeck went into the issues further, explaining how the small size of the studio meant that the lead developers had to succumb to crunch to finish the game, causing undue stress.

"The leads crunched. The art director. Lead Programmer. Lead designer. Me and Jess. Most of the team didn't, actually. They did a couple of like, oh we worked till seven. We were like, that's not crunch. But even then, not much. No weekends. A lot of the pressure accumulates at the top."

Pinchbeck closes the post asking for patience, reassuring fans that this is just "the end of a chapter" as the remaining members of the studio take time to figure out what may come next.

One thing's for sure, the walking simulator - which The Chinese Room effectively invented - is not at the top of the developer's agenda any more. Pinchbeck is clear: "We're done with doing walking sims and story stuff."

The Chinese Room had an indie hit with Dear Esther, going on to create the "beautiful, heart-breaking" Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, as well as Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, which we called "an interesting and welcome experiment in gaming terror".

Back in 2015, The Chinese Room co-founder Jessica Curry took a step back from the studio, citing illness and sexist abuse suffered during her time working on Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

We wish everyone at The Chinese Room the best of luck for the future.

Jordan Oloman is a Freelance Writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.