Splinterlands Lays Off More Staff, Makes Reorganization

After reducing staff size by 45% last year, Splinterlands has been forced to lay off more employees, while undertaking reorganization.

Why More Layoffs?

It’s been less than a year since the last layoffs, so what’s the reason behind the latest downsizing?

Based on what’s been revealed so far, it seems they’ve been forced to make this move due to poor market conditions and a shrinking playerbase. No numbers or percentages have been given, other than it’s been stated that they’ve had to “significantly downsize” the organization. Details on which projects are most affected have not been revealed. Yabapmatt, who recently held a Town Hall related to the unfortunate news, did however promise that the core team has not been affected. So how is the company getting reorganized?

Splinterlands Reorganization Details

The structure of the organization is being reorganized by dividing projects in a subsidiary called Ivennium Corp., meaning that Genesis League Sports, their sports gaming platform, will move over there, with Aggroed set to lead that division, while Yabapmatt is taking over as the lead for Splinterlands. Soulkeep, the tower defense game, and the Splinterlands title will belong to the Splinterlands division, while both companies are a part of Steem Monster Corp.

This reorganization also means that there is a change in priorities, meaning that from now on, Splinterlands is looking to focus specifically on being sustainable in the long-term instead of looking at accruing short-term gains. 5 priorities have been named. These include onboarding and keeping new players, working on land gameplay, that is, the Secret of Praetoria expansion; setting up SPS Validators, developing Soulkeep and the Rebellion card set.

Speaking of Rebellion, the developers have proposed that the DAO sell the packs from this upcoming new set, with Steem Monster Corp designated as the distributor and team leading development. To fund this development, the DAO would pay $250k USD, with all sales to be split between the two parties. All SPS stakers will soon have a chance to vote on this proposal.