{"id":6676,"date":"2026-09-09T07:58:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/?p=6676"},"modified":"2026-09-09T07:58:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T07:58:59","slug":"futurlab-layoffs-cancels-new-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/futurlab-layoffs-cancels-new-game\/","title":{"rendered":"PowerWash Simulator Developer FuturLab Lays Off Staff and Cancels New Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-block-type=\"core\"><strong>PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLab has confirmed layoffs affecting seven employees and the cancellation of an unannounced game that was currently in development.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurlab.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FuturLab <\/a>CEO Kirsty Rigden <a href=\"https:\/\/thisweekinvideogames.com\/news\/powerwash-simulator-developer-futurlab-quietly-conducts-layoffs-cancels-in-development-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">confirmed <\/a>the decision, explaining that projected development costs for the cancelled project had risen beyond what the studio expected the game to generate in revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" data-block-type=\"core\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" data-src=\"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-39-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6701 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-39-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-39-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-39-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-39-18x10.png 18w, https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/image-39.png 1440w\" data-sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/575;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"futurlab-cancels-new-game-and-cuts-seven-jobs\" data-block-type=\"core\">FuturLab Cancels New Game and Cuts Seven Jobs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">According to Rigden, continuing development would have cost FuturLab more than the project was projected to make, making cancellation the more sustainable option for the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">The decision resulted in <strong>seven employees leaving FuturLab<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">Rigden described the situation as difficult but said making the decision early was necessary to protect the studio&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" data-block-type=\"core\">\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">\u201cThis was not an easy or quick decision to make, but by making difficult decisions early we protect FuturLab in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">FuturLab will now continue supporting <strong>PowerWash Simulator 2<\/strong> while simultaneously prototyping ideas for potential future games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"reports-raise-questions-about-how-the-situation-was-handled\" data-block-type=\"core\">Reports Raise Questions About How the Situation Was Handled<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">Additional claims from anonymous sources have raised concerns about the internal handling of the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">One source claimed employees assigned to the cancelled project went weeks without receiving new work. It was also alleged that managers and team leads weren&#8217;t always informed when members of their teams entered employment discussions and stopped attending work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">The report further claims staff were discouraged from using the term \u201credundancy,\u201d with departing employees instead referred to internally as \u201cthe leavers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">FuturLab declined to provide additional details regarding the employment process, citing its confidential and legally binding nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p data-block-type=\"core\">Despite the cancelled project and layoffs, <strong>FuturLab remains operational and continues development and post-launch support for PowerWash Simulator 2.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLab has confirmed layoffs affecting seven employees and the cancellation of an unannounced game that was currently in development. FuturLab CEO Kirsty Rigden confirmed the decision, explaining that projected development costs for the cancelled project had risen beyond what the studio expected the game to generate in revenue. FuturLab Cancels New Game [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_gspb_post_css":"","_shortscore_rating":"","_shortscore_game":"","_shortscore_summary":"","iawp_total_views":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"ohg_news_type":[173],"ohg_game":[],"ohg_company":[],"ohg_platform":[],"class_list":["post-6676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","ohg_news_type-report"],"blocksy_meta":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6676"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6702,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6676\/revisions\/6702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"ohg_news_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ohg_news_type?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"ohg_game","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ohg_game?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"ohg_company","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ohg_company?post=6676"},{"taxonomy":"ohg_platform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overhypedgamer.com\/hr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ohg_platform?post=6676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}