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Layoffs at Funcom became widespread during difficult times. Although Dune: Awakening sold the fastest, Funcom has announced another round of job cuts and is restructuring as a whole. The company states that it has entered into long-term support mode for Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles, and the company’s long-time CEO will be terminated at the end of the reorganisation process. A question many people have, with an obvious answer, is: how can a hit game still end in layoffs?
Quick Facts
- Company: Funcom
- Announcement: Mid-October 2026
- Employees affected: Not disclosed
- Leadership change: The company, which has been run by CEO Rui Casais for 22 years, will see its head change hands at year-end.
- Expected successor: Azusa’s Chief Product Officer is Scott Junior, who has 25 years of experience and is expected to succeed Azusa.
- Sales milestone: Dune: Awakening reached 1 million copies in two weeks
- The future: Dune: Awakening & Conan Exiles
- Pattern: second round of cuts in 1 year’s time
What Funcom Confirmed
As for the number of cuts made by Funcom, it has not been disclosed, making it difficult to gauge the size of the job cuts. The company did give an explanation of the reason. This team was the largest they had ever assembled, and the project was the biggest they’d ever created: Dune: Awakening. With the game now in the live-service period, that’s no longer required.
Why Funcom Layoffs 2026 Happened Despite Strong Sales
It’s not the same to be successful on launch day and to be successful in the long term. With so many people on the team, it is expensive to develop, but it does not mean that a studio will be able to sustain the many in the future. It’s a usual occurrence in games to launch and then reduce some of their staff later, and Funcom’s woes or cost-cutting plans have not been discussed openly.
There is an additional level with player activity. Dune Awakening ranks fell after the initial frenzy. The criticism of the PvP-heavy endgame, which was also faction-based, led the studio to include Solo and PvE-only modes. Once things get pretty quiet, a smaller and more focused team is easy to rationalise.
Impact of Funcom Layoffs 2026 on Employees
The student is not comfortable with the worker. Achieving 1 million copies didn’t save colleagues from a trim to the workforce, and the second one in a little more than a year suggests uncertainty within the company. As teams focus on new priorities, there is more change at the top, with a leadership transition.
A Wider Gaming Jobs Crisis in 2026
Funcom is by no means an exception. Most studios are still cutting jobs in the game industry and Tencent’s parent is making it a business that has to be profitable. That pressure can be the reason why even when you have a successful release, you may have to follow that up with a slimmer structure. It’s an issue that has developers paying attention to the studios with successful games, too, as the gaming job shortage isn’t just affecting the studios that are having trouble with their launches.
What Happens Next
Despite recently upgrading the engine and having a paid expansion, Conan Exiles is still at the heart of Funcom’s plans. The game will continue to get updates, though from a smaller live service team. The studio will be headed by Scott Junior, who is credited as executive producer on Dune: Awakening, upon Casais’s exit.
For players of either game, there should be a continued response, but the layoffs story in Funcom is a reminder that sales isn’t the only indicator of workforce. All those following the studio should be alert for more information on the number of cuts and the new structure’s operation.
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