Dune: Awakening developer Funcom is laying off staff and shutting down a studio

Funcom, the Tencent-owned company behind the survival MMO Dune: Awakening, is making some major changes, including laying off staff and shutting down Metal: Hellsinger developer The Outsiders.

Dune: Awakening had a promising launch, selling a million copies and becoming the company’s “fastest selling game ever” less than two weeks after its June release. And in a statement about the layoffs shared with GamesIndustry.biz, Funcom said Dune: Awakening was “the biggest release we’ve had in our 32-year long history of making great games” and “has already shown incredible potential.”

However, “the transition from development to long-term live operation, while also building towards a major console release next year, will require us to restructure our teams and focus our resources from across projects and studios,” Funcom said. “Unfortunately, this also means having to say goodbye to cherished colleagues.” The company “cannot yet determine the exact impact.”

The restructuring appears to have impacted The Outsiders. David Goldfarb, founder and studio creative director at The Outsiders, said on Bluesky that “all of us” at the studio have been affected by the layoffs, meaning that “our 10 year old studio will be closing.” The team is going to “try to continue on in some new form,” he said. “Change is always tough and right now we are all hurting.”

Funcom’s senior global PR manager, Natascha Röösli, declined to comment.

Update, October 7th: Funcom declined to comment.