HomeNewsNightingale
Nightingale can’t outfly “the stark realities of the industry” as creators Inflexion close UK office and lay people offGaslamp fantasy “hasn’t been commercially successful enough” to keep staff on
Gaslamp fantasy “hasn’t been commercially successful enough” to keep staff on
Image credit:Inflexion Games
Image credit:Inflexion Games
Inflexion Games are closing their UK office, laying off staff and restructuring their main Canadian studio after failing to find commercial success with their Victorian fantasy survival gameNightingale. Reportedly, at least 22 people have been let go.
Nightingale launched in early access in February this year. At the time, we said it hadsignificant charmbut also,significant flaws, with Ed eventuallysummarising itas “a numbers grind disguised as a gaslamp survival game”. The developers soon treated the early access build toa comprehensive overhaul, shifting the focus away from procedurally generated landscapes and toward “handcrafted” stories. But it hasn’t been enough to keep the wolf from the door.
A message regarding today’s unfortunate studio news.pic.twitter.com/XBPsxZW5yV— Nightingale (@PlayNightingale)October 30, 2024
A message regarding today’s unfortunate studio news.pic.twitter.com/XBPsxZW5yV
Reports that Inflexion had shut down their UK division began to circulate last week, following developer posts on LinkedIn. An anonymous studio source has toldGamesIndustry.bizthat at least 22 people have been laid off, based on internal correspondence.
Flynn is the former general manager of BioWare. He founded Inflexion in 2018 as part of Improbable, who sold the studio to Tencent in 2022. In February this year, Flynnspoke to meabout the difficulty of establishing a new online survival builder like Nightingale in the face of “evergreen” giants like Fortnite and Minecraft. I certainly don’t fancy the chances of anybody going up against those games, but again, Nightingale launched with some obvious issues, not least an interface as baroque as the setting.
I’m still hoping Inflexion can turn it around, as a fan of Carrollian whimsy and Tarot cards, but that’s of no use to the people who’ve lost their jobs. If you’re among them, best of luck.
