37-Year-Old Studio Behind Myst Lays off Half Its Staff

Summary

Cyan Worlds, developer of Myst, laid off 12 staff, affecting audio, quality assurance, art, and community management positions.
Myst, released in 1993, remains popular with a 2020 Oculus VR remake and Steam and Xbox ports in 2021.
Despite layoffs, Cyan Worlds remains committed to future projects and the upcoming PlayStation release of Firmament in April.

Cyan Worlds, the developer behind the timeless PC point-and-click adventure games Myst and Riven, announced it has laid off 12 staff members, or roughly half the team. The Myst developers stated that the layoffs would take effect at the end of March and asked other studios to reach out about hiring the ones affected.

Originally released in September 1993 on the Macintosh OS before making its way to Windows 3.1 in March 1994, Myst was designed by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller. Myst received a remake in 2020 for Oculus VR headsets and was subsequently ported to Steam and Xbox consoles in 2021. Set on the titular island of Myst, players must solve various puzzles to fully unlock the island's mysteries and backstory. The game's setting is further divided into smaller worlds called Ages. Examples of Ages that Myst players can explore include the Mechanical Age and the Stoneship Age. Unlike most PC games at the time, Myst has no violence and imposes no time limits to solve the game's challenging puzzles.

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By Maddie Fisher

Despite its reputation for crafting beloved dark fantasy puzzle games, the developers behind Myst made an announcement no studio wants to make. As reported by PC Gamer, Cyan Worlds announced on social media that a dozen staff members were laid off, effective at the end of March. The studio's leadership stated the decision was made after doing what it could to avoid the situation, but the current state of the video game industry forced their hand. The affected positions specialized in fields like audio, quality assurance, art, and community management. Cyan Worlds said that all affected members received severance packages, and it asked other development studios to reach out and hire anyone affected.

Myst Developers Cyan Worlds Announces Layoffs

Cyan Worlds remained committed to getting more financing for future projects and bringing some stability to the studio. Some of the affected former Cyan staffers consented to listing their contact information and LinkedIn pages via a Google Spreadsheet that the company put together. In response, Myst and Riven fans expressed their sympathies and hoped for the best for those affected. Unfortunately, Cyan Worlds is just the latest studio to announce layoffs, following larger teams like Ubisoft and Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics in laying off various staff members.

Additionally, Cyan Worlds assured fans that the PlayStation release of Firmament, an Unreal Engine 5 adventure game, is still scheduled to arrive sometime in April, despite the recent layoffs. Hopefully, Cyan Worlds will one day recover from its current financial situation.

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