UPDATE: Following an official update statement Devsisters USA studio will remain open.
News is breaking via multiple posts on LinkedIn that Devsisters US office layoffs are in progress with a possible studio closure on the cards.
At the time of writing the range and breadth of the layoffs is not known but it appears that multiple key staff have been affected and are taking to LinkedIn to share their stories.
Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea Devsisters are most famous for the Cookie Run series of games. It appears that the new round of redundancies are entirely focused on the Devsisters US office and involves a complete office closure.
Betsy Abendroth, director of PR at Devsisters USA took to LinkedIn to say, “Like many in the gaming industry, Devsisters USA faced layoffs, and I was among those affected. For everyone going through the same experience, my heart is with you, and please don't hesitate to reach out for any network introductions or pass along any leads you may have.”
While Alyssa Liu, senior social media manager writes, “And that's a wrap on CookieRun's first ever web series, #LastCookieStanding! Please give the series finale a watch on the CookieRun: Kingdom EN Youtube channel, it's quite funny, but most importantly, it's a homage to the love my team and more had for the CookieRun series.
“We had so much more in plan than just this series including behind-the-scenes and even a recap show that was scrapped due to some terrible news in November 2023... that this series would be the last project as a team we would be able to work on due to the closure of the US office and layoffs.“
Cookie Run has become a major success for Devsisters, spawning multiple spin-off games and a web series (Last Cookie Standing) based on characters from the games.
Last year Cookie Run: Ovenbreak - the latest game in the series - managed to obtain 45 million players in Korea and played a major part in their end-of-year financials.
No surprises
It appears that the writing may have been on the wall for some time at Devsisters USA with key staff leaving and looking for work in advance of today’s newsbreak. Scott Moscatelli, VP of marketing at Devsisters USA writes, “Late last year I made the decision to leave my role as VP of Marketing at Devsisters. Shortly after I left, like many in the gaming industry Devsisters were forced to make significant layoffs to the US team. There are many extremely talented folks in Social, Growth, PR, Creative, Business Development & HR who are available, for now!”
We’ve reached out to Devsisters for an official comment and will amend this story with updates.
