Yesterday, news broke that as part of layoffs affecting around 10,000 people at Meta, the company had closed three VR studios: Sanzaru, Armature, and Twisted Pixel. Now former Meta employees tell Aftermath that Batman: Arkham Shadow developer Camouflaj has suffered heavy layoffs as well, and that in-development game projects have been canceled.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, former Meta employees said that Camouflaj is now made up of “just a handful of employees” who are working on "the new user experience for upcoming hardware." Studio heads, they told Aftermath, have been let go, and active game projects under development have been shut down. Additionally, they say, a sequel to Batman: Arkham Shadow was in development at Sanzaru – rather than Camouflaj – but as of yesterday, Sanzaru no longer exists.
Aftermath reached out to Meta for additional details, but did not receive a response as of this publishing. A Meta spokesperson told Kotaku that Camouflaj was affected by layoffs but is not shutting down.
While Camouflaj is best known these days for Batman: Arkham Shadow, it got its start with Republique, a 2013 stealth action-adventure that drew on studio founder Ryan Payton's history as a producer on the Metal Gear series. Camouflaj also released Iron Man VR in 2020.
A handful of Camouflaj employees have taken to LinkedIn to mourn what they’ve lost.
"I was a part of the recent Meta layoffs that hit Camouflaj," wrote senior animator Kaitlin S. "It's been an incredible 12+ years with the team, and I am so proud of what we accomplished in that time! I will miss the Camouflaj team a great deal. It was an incredible group of game devs."
"Like many folks in the industry right now, I was recently impacted by layoffs at Meta and Camouflaj," wrote cinematic and level designer Jordan Pearson. "I can’t begin to describe my gratitude for my time there. I initially joined the studio early in my career and had the opportunity to grow from intern to production assistant, then into level design, and before I knew it I was taking the lead on cinematic design & implementation in Batman: Arkham Shadow. Camouflaj gave me space to take ownership and follow my passion for storytelling. I'll always be thankful to the teammates who trusted me and mentored me. I’ve never before worked with such talented, compassionate people."
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Nathan Grayson
