Casey Hudson, a co-creator of Mass Effect, founded the game studio Humanoid Origin, which recently announced that it is closing.
Despite efforts to “protect the studio from broader issues in the industry,” the decision to close was made because of “an unforeseen deficit of finance,” according to the LinkedIn post announcing the closure.
Humanoid Origin has only been around for a little more than three years, since June 2021. After leaving BioWare the previous December, Hudson initially launched it as Humanoid Studios. Later, it was disclosed that the company was developing a AAA, multi-platform game set in a brand-new science fiction universe. “Reflecting the idea that in a world of AI-generated content, the creativity of our games begins with the amazing humans on our team!” Hudson declared in 2023 that the company’s name would be significantly altered to Humanoid Origin. As recently as this past May, Humanoid Origin was hiring.
This closure is the latest in a lengthy string of studio closures, game cancellations, and layoffs that have been occurring throughout 2023 and 2024. In 2024, developers are expected to have lost 14,000 positions, compared to over 10,000 the year before. Earlier this year, we discussed the causes of this trend as well as how it has affected certain developers, but it is still unclear when the ongoing closures will end.
