In a LinkedIn statement, the studio pointed to a difficult period for the game industry. It described the cuts as necessary to secure its long-term future. The statement referred to a significant number of employees leaving the company. Ashley Godbold was among the employees let go in October.

A studio that avoided layoffs for 24 years now has two

CEO Jesse Schell described the August round as rebalancing. It was the first layoff in the studio’s 24 years. It left Schell Games with roughly 125 staff. Those earlier cuts reached marketing, art, design and visual effects.

The October round is far larger. It takes a big bite out of a team that had already shrunk once this year.

The turn is notable given the studio’s past stance. In a 2024 interview, Schell called layoffs a choice. At the time, he described the studio’s core principle as not putting jobs at risk.

The studio’s work had already been changing shape. Headset VR once made up 80% of its projects. By August, that share had fallen to about 30%. Schell Games was moving toward VR-adjacent work, such as interactive projection for location-based entertainment.

That shift matters for fans of its VR catalog. Fewer staff could affect support for the studio’s other VR games, including I Expect You To Die.

Among Us 3D players are insulated from these cuts

Among Us 3D is not part of this round. The four-year partnership behind the game had already ended before these layoffs.

Innersloth has no plans to shut the game down. It took over player support once the handover update went live. Monthly cosmetic drops will continue under Innersloth’s control.

Veteran VR developer Schell Games laid off "a large portion" of its team today:https://t.co/Kudatc7Ymc

— UploadVR (@UploadVR) November 1, 2026

For players in VR more broadly, the picture is harder. Sanzaru Games, Twisted Pixel and Polyarc have all closed this year. Moss developer Polyarc shut down after almost 12 years, and 29 employees lost their jobs. That closure came about six months after major layoffs at the studio in March. Other VR studios have cut staff as well. Mighty Coconut, Kluge Interactive, Survios, Camouflaj and Combat Waffle all made cuts in 2026. Vertigo Games Amsterdam and two internal nDreams studios have shut down.

The cuts also fit a wider pattern across the games business. For the full year, the ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker projects 13,077 game industry layoffs.

Sources

  • SG Bean Signing Off: A Note from the Schell Games Team (Schell Games)
  • Task Updated (again): The Future of Among Us 3D (Innersloth)
  • Schell Games Lays Off "Large Portion" Of Staff (UploadVR)
  • EA workers decry mismanagement and corporate greed after mass layoffs (Vertical Slice)

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