Star Atlas Developer ATMTA Inc. Lays Off Over 120 Staff Amid Major Restructure

ATMTA Inc. announces downsizing to keep the company afloat

Amid continued downturns in crypto, ATMTA Inc., the developer of sci-fi gaming metaverse Star Atlas, has laid off over 120 staff as part of a major restructuring. It has reduced its workforce from 167 employees to 45, marking a significant drop from a peak of 235 staff in late 2022. 

"While the team size is much smaller, we will be more agile and fully capable of delivering on our prioritized products and maintaining all other existing products. We also believe that with a smaller footprint, more focused approach, and greatly reduced burn rate, we will be able to more readily attract capital investments that may enable us to ramp up production on more product lines," wrote Michael Wagner, the CEO and co-founder of Star Atlas. 

Per the official statement, the restructured team will focus on the SAGE browser game and the Crew Mobile App, which have the potential for near-term traction. The CORE graphic novel will continue to be released, and the Decentralized Autonomous Corporation (DAC) platform for guilds and clans will be ready to launch. 

On the other hand, the development of its Unreal Engine 5 universe will take a back seat while the team focuses on other product lines. According to Star Atlas, the Unreal Engine 5 product will be developed in tandem with the newly announced multiplayer tests with MetaGravity. However, new features for Showroom will be developed over a much extended period. This will allow them to operate more efficiently and provide a sustainable runway to launch multiple products while making Star Atlas more attractive to potential investors. 

Admittedly, the announcement was rather surprising given that the renowned gaming project has just announced a partnership with MetaGravity to support over 30,000 concurrent players in a single game environment. Even so, Wagner insists that nothing has changed in the company's vision, and that the team will push ahead and build products until Star Atlas is brought to life.