FuturLab has recently announced a reduction of its workforce, with seven members of its team parting ways 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 financially prudent move. Rigden explained that the cancelled project was still in the pre‑production phase when the company realized that the anticipated revenue would fall short of the projected development costs. "Continuing with it wouldn't have been a sensible decision," she said, emphasizing that the financial outlook simply did not justify further investment.
In the same statement, Rigden underscored FuturLab's ongoing commitment to delivering the best possible experience for PowerWash Simulator 2. She highlighted that the studio is simultaneously prototyping new concepts for future titles, a strategy that necessitates periodic reassessment of the studio's staffing needs and overall direction. "This is awful as these are people who are super talented and many of whom have been with us a long time, and I really really appreciate them," Rigden added, acknowledging the difficulty of the decision.
She framed the layoffs as a preventative measure, noting that making hard choices early helps safeguard the company's long‑term stability. When pressed about whether the seven staff members were let go through a formal redundancy process, Rigden declined to provide specifics, citing confidentiality and legal constraints surrounding the matter. This lack of detail left many observers to piece together the timeline from anonymous sources. According to those sources, the cancellation of the side project was first announced in late June, after the initiative had reportedly been in development for two to three years.
In the weeks that followed, the staff assigned to the project found themselves without new assignments, effectively left idle for an extended period. The affected employees were reportedly made redundant in July.
Sources close to the situation claim that managers and team leads were not given prior notice about which of their direct reports would be leaving, nor were they told the reasons behind the sudden changes. This lack of communication appears to have been a deliberate choice by senior leadership to shield managers from the emotional burden of delivering the news and to reduce the overall stress within the team. In August, FuturLab allegedly held a meeting in which Chief Operating Officer Chris Mehers described the organization as undergoing a restructuring phase. During a follow‑up meeting, employees were instructed to avoid using the term "redundancy" when referring to the departing staff, instead using the euphemism "the leavers." This language choice was reportedly intended to soften the perception of the cuts and to maintain morale among the remaining workforce.
Additionally, staff were told that the departures would not affect the development of PowerWash Simulator 2, suggesting that the core production pipeline for the main game remained intact despite the reduction in personnel. Further details emerged about the decision‑making process. It was alleged that managers and team leads were deliberately excluded from selecting which individuals would be let go, a move designed to prevent them from feeling personal guilt or responsibility for the outcomes. The company purportedly wanted to avoid a scenario where employees would spend weeks uncertain about their job security, thereby minimizing anxiety and disruption during the transition period.
Earlier conversations with GamesIndustry.biz revealed that FuturLab has historically pursued a dual‑project development model, aiming to work on two games simultaneously. Rigden expressed enthusiasm for a new, undisclosed project that the studio is developing alongside PowerWash Simulator 2, emphasizing that FuturLab does not wish to be pigeonholed as solely a "PowerWash" studio. She highlighted the studio's ongoing curiosity and ambition: "We're always thinking about, 'What else could we do?'" This forward‑looking stance suggests that the recent layoffs may be part of a broader strategic shift to reallocate resources toward initiatives that align more closely with the company's long‑term vision.
In summary, FuturLab's recent staff reductions stem from the cancellation of a non‑PowerWash Simulator title that was deemed financially untenable during its early development stages. The company has framed the move as a necessary step to protect its future, while also attempting to manage the narrative around the departures by avoiding the term "redundancy" and reassuring stakeholders that the main game's progress will not be compromised. The situation underscores the challenges that mid‑size game studios face when balancing creative ambition with fiscal responsibility, and it highlights the delicate handling required when communicating workforce changes within a tight‑knit development community.