Hi-Rez Studios, the publisher behind the well-received MOBA title Smite, has confirmed laying off an undisclosed number of employees across multiple studios. Being the parent company of five different subsidiaries, Hi-Rez Studios oversees the teams behind a number of different games, including Smite, Smite 2, Paladins, and Rogue Company.
Similar to the past few years, the layoff wave has continued taking victims in 2025 as well. After giants like Ubisoft announced job cuts in January, Hi-Rez Studios has now entered the fray with layoffs of its own. The latter's move affects three different studios in its portfolio and impacts the future of its various online titles. Alarmingly, the announcement also marks the second time the company has trimmed down its workforce in the past four months, after last doing so in October 2024.
As Smite 2 enters its open beta test phase, the MOBA has switched to a seasonal system similar to live services like Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals.
In a Discord announcement, captured by Twitter user Hocky2001 (via Game Developer), Hi-Rez Studios revealed that they laid off an unknown number of employees across Evil Mojo Games, Rally Here, and Titan Forge Games. It mentioned...
