Sandsoft, a mobile developer headquartered in Saudi Arabia, is closing its studios in Riyadh and Barcelona, Spain, while laying off around 65 employees in the process.
First reported by MobileGamer.Biz earlier today, the layoffs are affecting around 40 staff members in Barcelona and 25 in Riyadh. The outlet was told that the job cuts are affecting employees working on internally developed games, while those working in publishing are safe. The studio is looking into transitioning some of the affected members into the latter, but there’s no confirmation as of yet.
“Sandsoft is doubling down on publishing, an area of our business where we’ve already demonstrated significant growth and see significant opportunities for future success,” Sandsoft CEO David Fernández told MobileGamer.
“As part of this strategic shift, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our internal studios in Barcelona and Riyadh. We deeply appreciate the team’s creativity and dedication, and we’re fully committed to supporting everyone through this transition.”
A spokesperson added that the decision “isn’t about the quality of work or talent at these studios,” and that “it’s really about concentrating our resources where we can have the biggest impact and build sustainable growth.” As such, the team will now be concentrating solely on publishing.
Sandsoft still has two offices in Finland and China
As reported by PocketGamer.Biz, Sandsoft signed three new games as recently as March of this year. Back then, the studio also said it had “several more” games in testing and scheduled to release throughout the year.
The Riyadh studio is closing merely three years after opening, while the Barcelona studio was opened in 2023. Earlier that same year, Fernández spoke to MobileGamer.Biz about a plan to become a mega publisher.
“Our ambition is to be a leader in the mobile games industry, from our region to the world, in the same way that you have in the U.S. not just mobile, but larger organizations —you have the Activisions, you have the Take-Twos, you have Electronic Arts,” Fernández said. “Looking to China, you have Tencent and you have NetEase. We want to be one of those.”
