The legendary development studio Cyan Worlds — the creators of Myst and Riven — announced last Friday on the social media that it had been forced to lay off twelve talented staff members — roughly half its team (h/t: PC Gamer).
This decision came about due to what the leadership of the company referred to as "industry conditions", which forced them to "weigh the future health of our studio against the month-to-month realities of game development in 2025." According to the post, the decision didn't come as a surprise to the team, who had been kept abreast of the "choppy waters" Cyan had found itself of late but was nonetheless "deeply saddening" for all involved.
Cyan's leadership went on to claim that it has tried to soften the landing for those affected with severance packages, and has also shared information about some of the individuals affected (those who have consented to having their information shared), in the hopes that potential employers can contact them about any opportunities they may have available. Its plans moving forward are to secure financing for its next project, in an effort "to restabilize the studio."
Cyan Worlds was first founded in 1987, as Cyan Productions, by the brothers Rand and Robyn Miller and shot to fame following the 1993 release of Myst — a 3D point-and-click adventure that became a worldwide hit and later resulted in a franchise featuring games like Riven: The Sequel to Myst and Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.
Over the years, the company has since split its time between developing new titles like Obduction and Firmament and working on ports/remakes of their older games. Their most recent remake, Riven (2024), for instance, was released last year for Windows, macOS, and MetaQuest, and generated a ton of positive attention at launch, earning rave reviews from PC Gamer, Paste Magazine, and PCGamesN.
Claire Hummel, a lead visual designer Cyan, reacted to the layoffs on Twitter/X stating, "God this industry sucks right now". She stated she had not been affected but had "worked with this team for a year and a half now" and would "write any one of them glowing recommendation at the drop of a hat". Cyan Worlds creative director Eric A Anderson, meanwhile, simply responded to the news by writing on Twitter/X, "I hate it. I hate it so much"
Here's Cyan Worlds' official statement in full:
Today we would like to share with you some very unfortunate news. Despite our best efforts to avoid it, Cyan has made the difficult decision to reduce our overall staff size-resulting in the layoff of twelve talented staff members, roughly half the team - effective at the end of March.
Industry conditions have forced us into a tricky spot where we are having to weigh the future health of our studio against the month-to-month realities of game development in 2025. Throughout the past year, we have been ultra-transparent with the entire Cyan team about the choppy waters we find ourselves in, as well as the dangers ahead. While the news of a layoff was not a surprise to the team, it was (and is) still deeply saddening for all of us.
Although we have done our best to pad the landing for those affected with severance packages, we would implore any fellow developers looking for world-class talent to reach out.
For now, our number one priority is to secure financing for our next project, and to restabilize the studio. We've been around for a very long time, and have been through tough times before. Our sincere hope is to continue to be around, and to provide the types of experiences that only Cyan can deliver.
As always, we are grateful for all the love and support from our amazing player community.
It's devastating to see such a beloved developer going through such a tough time, and our hearts go out to those affected by the layoffs.
We wish the best for everyone impacted and hope that Cyan can get back on course to continue delivering the types of games that it originally made its name with.