Studio behind Gigantic announces wide-scale, 'temporary' layoffs

Motiga, the developer of free-to-play team-based online multiplayer game Gigantic, is laying off a "significant percentage" of its staff. The studio shared the news on its website, claiming the decision was "shared with every member of our team before the posting of this article."

Due to its current financial situation, Motiga claimed, the company can no longer support the entirety of its staff. "Though we are in active and promising discussions with a number of potential investors," the announcement states, "the timing for those negotiations extends beyond the resources we have to maintain the staffing required to continue development on Gigantic."

Development on Gigantic is on hold as the company enters discussions with potential investors. In the announcement, it expressed an intention to rehire the laid off staff and resume development on the project.

This comes just two months after the announcement that Gigantic would be delayed until sometime this year. That delay came with its own set of layoffs.

A closed beta for the game, originally set to launch in 2015, began last August. The game was first revealed in 2014. Motiga intends to bring out the third-person action game on both Windows PC and Xbox One.