Hi-Rez Studios Prioritizes Development of Smite 2 After Layoffs

Hi-Rez Studios is now focusing all its manpower on Smite 2 after laying off dozens of employees.

Hi-Rez Studios, the studio behind Paladins, Smite, and many more have laid off a number of their employees. Resulting in Smite 1, Paladins, and Rogue Company taking a step back in development and having the remaining team focus on the development of Smite 2, according to a Discord message that was uploaded on Twitter. The layoffs are still unannounced by the studio as of writing.

A Reddit thread was made to monitor and compile tweets and announcements from laid-off employees. A lot of public-facing employees were laid off, including LermyWermy, a designer on Smite 2 who was just in a Titan Talk that was streamed on February 6. The layoffs happened the next day.

This is the second layoff in six months by Hi-Rez. The last layoffs happened in October 2024 which resulted in Smite 2’s cosmetic and monetization plans taking a step back. The recent layoffs affected a lot of the departments in the studio including UI/UX, Esports, and Quality Assurance.

The studio’s future is currently uncertain. However, it was spotted by the same person who uploaded the Discord screenshot that Stewart Chisam, the studio’s CEO, has deleted his Twitter account.