The entire team behind Luna Abyss at Kwalee Labs has been laid off just weeks after the game launched on PC and consoles. Kwalee Labs CEO Hollie Emery revealed the news on LinkedIn, saying the decision was completely outside of the team’s control and that everyone affected is now looking for work.
Luna Abyss released on May 21, 2026, as a fast paced bullet hell first person shooter with strong art direction and tight movement. The game received positive critical attention, including praise for its level design, performances, and striking visual style. But even a well received launch was not enough to keep the team together.
The layoffs are another reminder of how unstable the games industry remains. Smaller teams can spend years building a game, ship it to good reviews, and still face job losses almost immediately after release.
Kwalee Labs’ full Luna Abyss team is now out of work
Kwalee Labs was previously known as Bonsai Collective before it merged with publisher Kwalee and was rebranded last year. Luna Abyss was the studio’s major project, and the team behind it had only recently seen the game reach players.
Emery said the team was proud of the love and support Luna Abyss received from critics, media, and the wider industry. They also described the game’s release as one of the highlights of the team’s careers.
According to Emery’s post, nine people were affected by the cuts. Emery also appears to be among those made redundant.
| Detail | Current status |
|---|---|
| Game | Luna Abyss |
| Developer team | Kwalee Labs |
| Launch date | May 21, 2026 |
| Genre | Bullet hell first person shooter |
| Platforms | PC and consoles |
| Reported affected workers | Nine people |
| Reason given | Not publicly explained |
| Team status | Entire team laid off |
Kwalee has not publicly given a detailed reason for the decision.
The timing makes the layoffs more painful
The timing is what makes this news especially harsh. Luna Abyss had only just launched, and the team should have been in a period of post launch support, reflection, and potential future planning.
Instead, the developers are now looking for new jobs shortly after finishing the game. That is becoming a familiar pattern across the industry, where teams are often cut after shipping projects, even when those projects are well reviewed.
Luna Abyss was not treated like a failed creative effort. The game had clear strengths and showed that the team had talent. It mixed fast movement, bullet hell pressure, and strong environmental art into a shooter that stood out from many indie and mid budget releases.
That makes the layoffs feel less like a judgment on quality and more like another example of business realities overruling creative momentum.
Luna Abyss showed promise despite some flaws
Luna Abyss was not perfect, but few debut projects are. The game drew praise for its atmosphere, pacing, movement, and visual identity. Its enemy design was seen as one of the weaker areas, but the overall response suggested a team with a strong foundation.
The shooter also had a clear identity. It was not trying to copy every major FPS trend. Its blend of bullet hell design and first person action helped it feel different, while its art direction gave it a strange and memorable world.
For a small team, that kind of result matters. It shows creative promise, technical skill, and the ability to finish a polished commercial game.
The wider industry context is difficult
The Luna Abyss layoffs are smaller in scale than the major cuts expected or reported at larger companies, but the result is the same for the people affected. Developers, artists, and leaders who helped bring a game to market are now unemployed.
This is especially frustrating because 2026 has continued the same pattern seen across recent years. Games can receive praise, draw attention, and still fail to protect the people who made them. Commercial performance, publisher priorities, funding decisions, and studio restructuring can all matter more than reviews.
Kwalee is not the same kind of company as a platform holder with enormous financial backing. Smaller publishers face their own market pressure. Still, for the developers involved, that does not soften the impact.
Luna Abyss deserved a longer runway
Luna Abyss may still find an audience over time, especially through discounts, word of mouth, and subscription exposure. But the team that built it may not get to benefit from that longer tail together.
That is one of the hardest parts of modern game development. A game can launch, improve, and slowly grow after release, but the people who made it are often not given enough time to support that future.
For players, Luna Abyss remains available and worth noticing if they enjoy stylish, fast shooters with a different tone. For the developers, the hope is that their work on the game helps them find new roles quickly.
The layoffs at Kwalee Labs are not only a sad postscript to Luna Abyss. They are another sign of an industry where shipping a strong game is no longer enough to guarantee stability for the people who made it.
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