Motiga, The Studio Behind Gigantic Is Shutting Down

Earlier this afternoon, an employee at gaming studio Motiga sent out a tweet which was quickly picked up by the Gigantic subreddit. The tweet in question strongly suggests that the entire Studio is being shuttered and that all staff have been laid off. While game studios come and go, the remarkable thing about this case is that it was a personal tweet that revealed this information to the public. As of this writing, there is still no official statement from Motiga or their parent company, Perfect World Entertainment.

Today marks the end of Motiga and my time with an absolutely amazing team. If anyone is hiring, we're all looking! <3 to everyone.

— Pumpkin Spice Dan (@MO_Soundz) November 2, 2017

Motiga was founded in August 2010 and their first title, Gigantic, entered open beta testing on December 8, 2016. Motiga initially partnered with Microsoft and Gigantic was marketed as a Windows 10/Xbox One exclusive. Those plans fell apart and the studio eventually entered into a publishing agreement with Perfect World Entertainment in May of 2016. Gigantic, a fast paced MOBA style game, is currently available on Perfect World's Arc Client and on Steam where it enjoys a playerbase of 200-300 concurrent players.

No word yet on what the shuttering of Motiga means for Gigantic, but the current speculation is that Perfect World Entertainment will take over development. The game is still receiving regular updates, with a promised November update right around the corner.

Update: We received a statement from Perfect World Entertainment:

“Following the news that Motiga has reduced the staff of its studio, Perfect World Entertainment can confirm that as the publisher of Gigantic, the game will continue to be available on our platforms. A core team of developers remains at Motiga, who will work with us to support the game and its players, including moving full steam ahead with the upcoming November update and future content. We cannot thank everyone enough for their contributions in making Gigantic the outstanding experience it is today.

Perfect World Entertainment recently closed the Seattle office of Runic Games as part of the company’s continued strategy to focus on online games as a service. We’re grateful to the team for all of their hard work bringing incredible experiences like Torchlight, Torchlight II and Hob to life. Runic Games will remain a part of Perfect World Entertainment’s portfolio of studios, and its games will continue to be available to players, as we stay committed to supporting and growing Runic Games’ beloved franchises.

The staff reduction at Motiga and the closure of Runic Games Seattle were unrelated. Perfect World Entertainment stands committed to delivering the best massively multiplayer online gameplay experiences to our players.”