FuturLab announced that seven members of its team have been let go after the company decided to cancel a development effort that was unrelated to its flagship title, PowerWash Simulator. The decision, which was communicated by CEO Kirsty Rigden in an interview with This Week in Video Games, was framed as a necessary business move: the cancelled project was still in the pre‑production phase and, according to Rigden, the projected revenue would not have covered the anticipated costs. "Continuing with it wouldn't have been a sensible decision," she said, emphasizing that the studio needed to focus its resources on more viable ventures.
Rigden also highlighted the studio's ongoing commitment to delivering the best possible experience for PowerWash Simulator 2, while simultaneously experimenting with new concepts for future releases. "We are fully committed to making PowerWash Simulator 2 the best game it can be, while prototyping new ideas for future games, and this has meant looking at our future plans and requirements for the studio," she explained. This strategic pivot, she added, forced the leadership to reassess staffing levels and project priorities across the organization.
The CEO expressed genuine remorse for the impact on the affected employees, describing them as "super talented" and noting that many had been with FuturLab for an extended period. "This is awful because these are people who are incredibly skilled and many of whom have been with us a long time, and I really, really appreciate them," Rigden said. She framed the layoffs as a painful but pre‑emptive measure designed to safeguard the studio's long‑term health: "By making difficult decisions early we protect FuturLab in the future." When pressed about whether the departures were formally classified as redundancies, Rigden declined to provide specifics, citing confidentiality and legal constraints surrounding the process.
"I am unable to divulge any further details about a confidential and legally binding process," she replied. Anonymous insiders who spoke to This Week in Video Games added further context. According to these sources, Rigden announced the cancellation of the unnamed project in late June, after it had reportedly been in development for two to three years.
Following the announcement, project staff allegedly found themselves without new assignments for several weeks, creating a period of uncertainty for those team members. The seven individuals who were ultimately let go were reportedly made redundant in July. Sources claim that managers and team leads were not informed in advance about which of their direct reports would be affected, nor were they given an explanation for the sudden departures.
This lack of communication, insiders suggest, left many supervisors in the dark about the status of their teams. In August, a meeting was allegedly convened in which FuturLab's Chief Operating Officer, Chris Mehers, described the situation as a restructuring of the studio. During a subsequent gathering, employees were reportedly instructed to avoid using the term "redundancy" when referring to the departing staff.
Instead, they were asked to call them "the leavers," a euphemism that some observers view as an attempt to soften the perception of job loss. According to the same sources, the remaining staff were told that the seven who left were not required for the development of PowerWash Simulator 2 and that their exit would have no bearing on the game's progress. Managers and team leads were allegedly excluded from the selection process for the affected individuals, a move described as an effort to shield them from guilt and to reduce the emotional strain on the departing employees, who reportedly endured a two‑week period of uncertainty regarding their job security.
GamesIndustry.biz previously interviewed Rigden about FuturLab's future direction, including the now‑canceled project. In that discussion, Rigden emphasized the studio's ambition to work on multiple titles simultaneously: "We've always tried to do two projects at once… so we've got another game which I'm really excited about. We don't want to just be a PowerWash studio... We're always thinking about, 'What else could we do?'" This statement underscores FuturLab's desire to diversify its portfolio beyond the success of PowerWash Simulator.
The broader industry reaction to the layoffs reflects a growing awareness of how studios manage workforce reductions, especially in the context of smaller, independent developers. While some analysts argue that pre‑emptive cuts can protect a company from larger financial crises, others caution that the manner in which redundancies are communicated can have lasting effects on morale, employer reputation, and future talent acquisition. In summary, FuturLab's recent staff reductions stem from the cancellation of a long‑running, non‑PowerWash project that was deemed financially untenable during its early development stage.
The company has framed the move as a strategic realignment aimed at preserving resources for its flagship sequel and upcoming experimental titles. However, the handling of the process—particularly the instruction to avoid the word "redundancy" and to label departing employees as "the leavers"—has drawn scrutiny from observers who question the transparency and empathy of such corporate communications.
The situation serves as a case study in how indie studios balance creative ambition with fiscal responsibility, and how they navigate the human impact of difficult business decisions.