Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa has suffered a round of redundancies as its co-founders target a fresh start for the studio in 2021.
Bossa confirmed to Eurogamer that initially 13 positions out of the 85-strong London company were at risk, but this figure has reduced to 10 and could be lower by the time the consultation period ends.
A source at the studio told Eurogamer Bossa had suffered a number of internal issues throughout 2020 as the company shifted to work from home and then crunched in the months leading up to the August release of comedy physics game Surgeon Simulator 2.
Let’s Play Surgeon Simulator 2: CO-OP CARNAGE! Watch on YouTube
Surgeon Simulator 2 launched as an Epic Games Store exclusive, and failed to have the same impact of its predecessor, which was a 2013 Steam hit. However, in an interview with Eurogamer, Bossa co-founder Henrique Olifiers denied the performance of Surgeon Simulator 2 had anything to do with the round of redundancies. Rather, “it’s more to do with how we see games evolving and the competencies we will need and won’t need in that new landscape.”
In a prepared statement, Bossa’s management admitted some at the studio were unhappy with the company’s new direction:
“The other thing about fundamental change is that not everyone agrees with it, and that’s alright,” reads the statement, “the world would be a much more dull place if we all agreed on everything. A small number of people are unhappy with these changes, and as unfortunate as that is, there’s little we can do other than be candid about our motives and support them as much as possible. They have the right to feel the way they do about these decisions if so they chose to, and criticise us for it. That’s just the way things work.”
Surgeon Simulator 2 launches on non-Epic platforms in 2021 once Bossa’s exclusivity deal with Epic expires, and Bossa remains committed to that release, Olifiers insisted.
“We’re still updating the game,” Olifiers said. “We have a team working on it, and we’re going to launch the game on three platforms in August next year. So we’re still heavily invested in the game, keeping it going. If the game didn’t perform as we expected, we would wrap it up and focus on something else. We are not big enough to support something that is not performing.”
One person at Bossa, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the record to press, described tension over recent decisions as well as management’s involvement in day-to-day production.
Olifiers said the Bossa co-founders have always been involved with game production throughout the studio’s 10-year history.
“We are a small-ish studio – not tiny, right?” Olifiers said. “We’re not indie any more. 85 people is considerable. We’ve always been involved with game production. All our game ideas come from a game jam, and every single person in the studio takes part in those game jams that generate those game ideas. So from day one, management is involved. I am a game designer, not a business guy. I have been a producer, a coder, a game designer and so on. And so has everybody else in the team. So we are involved in the day-to-day. Of course at times there are creative differences, and we solve that in the best possible way, as far as I can tell.