Gravity Well Cuts Majority of Team After Summer Funding Loss

Gravity Well said on October 6, 2026 that it had laid off the majority of its team — more than 40 developers — after losing its funding during the summer without securing a new partner. The independent AAA studio posted the statement to its official Bluesky account, signed by its three leads.

The statement was signed by Drew, Slothy, and Mon. The studio’s official website lists its leadership as chief executive and executive producer Drew McCoy, chief technology officer Jon “slothy” Shiring, and chief operating officer Mon Saetern.

The statement opened with the studio’s founding goal: “When we started Gravity Well our goal was to create the best place in the world for developers to do their best work.” The leads said the layoffs marked a significant step back from that aim.

According to the statement, everyone at the studio was informed of the situation as it unfolded and knew the outcome was possible if the search for new funding did not succeed. The leads said the team stayed through the process in hopes a solution would arrive before funds ran out, and expressed sadness that the funding did not come together in time to keep the team intact.

The statement told affected staff the decision was not a reflection of their skills or ability, and said the leads were heartbroken that those developers now face the job market. It also asked other companies to consider Gravity Well applicants, saying the departing developers would strengthen any development team and that they would be deeply missed.

A Studio Built to Stay Small

On its website, Gravity Well describes itself as an independent game development studio built around a deliberately small team, saying it was building toward a peak headcount of 80 to 85 people. The studio argues that larger organizations move more slowly, choices become siloed, and creativity suffers once a team grows past 100 people.

The site lists team health as an absolute top priority: the studio says it is anti-crunch, offers flexible paid time off, generous health benefits, and flexible working arrangements, and holds that developers deserve significant profit-sharing on the games they make. Gravity Well says it was built for remote work from the start, keeps an optional office in Los Angeles for local staff, and that most of its employees are remote-only.

The website’s leadership roster credits McCoy with work on Apex Legends, Titanfall 1 and 2, and Modern Warfare 1 and 2, and Shiring with those franchises plus Call of Duty 2. Its project leadership list includes creative director Paul Messerly, design director Doug Holder, art director Hethe Srodawa, production director Lulu LaMer, and engineering director Josh Caratelli.

Job listings on the site describe the project as an entirely new world and IP, with open roles spanning art, animation, and engineering, and the principal engineer listing seeks a candidate with Unreal experience. The studio notes that recruiting is handled in-house, without recruiting or AI software screening resumes.

Hiring Posts Ran Through June

Posts on the studio’s Bluesky feed document an active recruiting effort that ran through the first half of 2026. On September 9, 2025, the studio advertised for an environment artist to help build its game world, and on December 17, 2025, it posted openings for a VFX artist and a sound designer.

On January 9, 2026, the studio wrote that its team was growing, pointing to openings across its art, engineering, production, and quality-assurance departments, and a systems designer listing followed on January 20, 2026. An engineering opportunity focused on core engine architecture and bug tracking was posted on April 30, 2026, and on May 14, 2026, the studio advertised roles in concept art, UI/UX, and animation while continuing its search for a principal engineer.

The most recent hiring post in the feed is dated June 5, 2026, when the studio noted it was still actively accepting applications for its UI/UX artist and principal engineer roles.

On the studio’s future, the statement read: “Gravity Well will continue with a much smaller team as we continue to fight for survival, but given the current state of the industry our future is uncertain.”