Homeworld 3 developer Blackbird Interactive lays off 41 team members

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Vancouver-based Blackbird Interactive has confirmed it laid off 41 of its team members this week. The announcement comes just a few days after the developer allowed members of the press to play a version of its long-awaited space-based RTS sequel Homeworld 3 at Gamescom 2023.

In a statement to IGN, Blackbird blamed the decision to lay off those team members on the cancelation of "several unannounced projects" at the developer. It added:

As an independent studio, Blackbird Interactive has always been a close-knit team. Our top priority is helping position those affected for this next stage of their careers. We are offering a suite of extended benefits and severance to help ease this transition. No announced projects will be affected by this move, and we will continue to deliver on those games.​

Game World Observer stated that prior to the layoffs this week, Blackbird had approximately 300 employees.

The developer was first formed by a number of EA and Relic team members in 2007. In 2016, it released its first game, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak, a prequel to the two space-based Homeworld games originally developed by Relic.

In 2019, it was announced that Blackbird was making the next game in the franchise, Homeworld 3. After a couple of delays, the game is currently scheduled to be released in February 2024. You can pre-order a Collector's Edition of the game, which includes physical models of some of the game's ships, at Amazon.

Blackbird has also released a number of other games, including Hardspace: Shipbreakers in 2020 and Crossfire: Legion in 2022. It has also collaborated with Mojang and Microsoft on two Minecraft-based games; the now canceled mobile game Minecraft: Earth, and the recently released Minecraft Legends.

Besides Homeworld 3, Blackbird is working on a new sci-fi card-based roguelite game called Earthless. It's scheduled to be released as an Early Access game sometime in 2024.