The Hi-Rez Studios team behind the Smite 2 has laid off more employees for the third time in the past year. However, these layoffs are different, as they do not affect any development staff, unlike the previous layoffs that occurred in February and October 2024. The changes mostly happen at the leadership level within the studio, especially that the president of the studio, Stewart Chisam, has left.
News of these departures from the top ranks first came out on X (formerly Twitter) from a former employee and then confirmed by Alex Cantatore, the newest general manager of Titan Forge, Hi-Rez's subsidiary. Cantatore directly addressed the Smite community on Reddit.
As indicated by Cantatore, this is a board-level decision for the studio. He explains, "Unfortunately, there were a handful of layoffs in senior management positions only last Thursday. Stew is changing with Hi-Rez after this. Travis [Brown] and Radar were also affected, as well as two folks in senior management on the Rally Here side of the business. I am very sad to be losing all of them."
According to the new general manager, the board deemed that the company had "just a lot of senior management relative to our size." Important matters are that Cantatore has assured the community that these changes will have no "affect our core mission or any other people working directly on Smite 2." Also mentioned was the decision of the studio not to issue an official press release right away, so Chisam and others could make their own announcements.
Later, Chisam confirmed on his LinkedIn page leaving Hi-Rez. He reflected over the17 years he worked with the studio and mentioned that departure "has been discussed for a long time, but the timing was finally right." Challenges recently experienced by Hi-Rez and the greater gaming industry were acknowledged, with Chisam saying, "Certainly not everything has worked out as we hoped, but I think we also have left a unique footprint on the industry-and tried to carve out a space as a mid-size cross-platform games-as-a-service pioneer, relentlessly fighting against giants."
Tony Jones, lead producer at Hi-Rez Studios, also announced via LinkedIn that he too had been affected by these cuts. To date, there has been no word from other mentioned senior staff members, including Travis Brown (known as Radar), regarding their answer to the subject. This restructuring at the top of Hi-Rez Studios comes at a very crucial time as it strives for the launch of Smite 2, and the gaming community will eagerly watch these changes and see how they affect the studio's future direction.