Former Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime announces layoffs at Dreamhaven

Dreamhaven, the developer and publishing company launched in 2020 by Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaime, has announced it is laying off an unknown number of employees. In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Morhaime said:

“We made the hard decision to reduce the size of our company, with the primary impact on our Publishing group. These choices are never easy — they affect talented colleagues who have played a key role in building Dreamhaven’s foundation and supporting what has been an eventful year for us. From organising the Dreamhaven Showcase to helping launch three games, every person at Dreamhaven has contributed to sharing our games with the world. I’m deeply grateful for the creativity, dedication, and hard work of the teammates we are parting ways with.”

Morhaime iterates in his statement that Dreamhaven remains committed to “bringing players together through positive and meaningful experiences,” and to “supporting these games and the communities forming around them.”

Dreamhaven’s internal game development studio, Secret Door Studio, had been responsible for developing Sunderfolk and Wildgate. Dreamhaven has also published Lynked: Banner of the Spark and Mechabellum. Despite being critically well-received, these games have failed to achieve a sustainable player count and sales total. Sunderfolk has only managed to sell 62,000 copies since its debut in April this year, reaching a peak player count of 890.

Unfortunately, these layoffs do not come as a surprise. In a report published in August, Bloomberg has revealed much of the studio’s financial woes. The report features an internal email from Morhaime that reads: “Our monthly expenses are outpacing revenue,” and that the studio had to drastically shift focus on “urgently reducing costs” in this challenging time for the gaming industry, where just last week, Crystal Dynamics has also had to let go of staff.