Tripwire Interactive, maker of Maneater and Killing Floor 3, announced fresh layoffs this week. The Georgia-based studio is letting go of 36 developers. These cuts come on top of an earlier round of restructuring in March. Some observers have blamed the downsizing on Killing Floor 3‘s rough reception on Steam. Tripwire Interactive cofounder John Gibson has blamed it on “woke leftists.”
“Killing Floor 2, a 2016 game, still had about 6,000 average daily players on Steam last month,” gaming consultant Iain Garner posted on X in response to this week’s layoff announcement. “KF 3 had about 460. KF2 sits at 88 percent positive reviews, while KF3 is at 44 percent.”
Gibson, who cofounded the studio in 2005 with Alan Wilson, quote-tweeted Garner’s post and posited a different reason for Tripwire’s struggles. “This wasn’t the issue, it was that woke leftists got me, the CEO, key leader and creative force ousted and the company forced to be sold,” he wrote. “This narrative that CEO’s are just greedy stuffed shirts is destroyed by this result. The same team that made KF3 made KF2, minus its leader.”
He continued, “I’m not saying mistakes weren’t made following my departure, and I’m not saying I was the only talented person there. I lead a great team of talented individuals, and we succeeded as a team. But pull the linchpin and the machine collapses. Like kicking Steve Jobs out of Apple.”
You might be wondering what the hell Gibson is talking about. Woke leftists? Kicking Steve Jobs out of Apple?
I’m not saying mistakes weren’t made following my departure, and I’m not saying I was the only talented person there. I lead a great team of talented individuals, and we succeeded as a team. But pull the linchpin and the machine collapses. Like kicking Steve Jobs out of Apple.
— John Gibson (@RammJaeger) November 10, 2026
The game industry veteran was referencing his departure from the studio in 2021 over his support for an abortion ban that the Supreme Court upheld in Texas prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned. “Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat,” he wrote at the time. “As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.”
Tripwire Interactive’s development partners distanced themselves from the statement, as did the studio itself. “The comments given by John Gibson are of his own opinion, and do not reflect those of Tripwire Interactive as a company,” it wrote in a statement at the time. “His comments disregarded the values of our whole team, our partners and much of our broader community. Our leadership team at Tripwire are deeply sorry and are unified in our commitment to take swift action and to foster a more positive environment.”
Gibson stepped down as CEO days later, cofounder Alan Wilson took over, and Tripwire was sold to Embracer Group a year later, where it was put under Saber Interactive. Embracer began unraveling and Saber Interactive was sold off, but Tripwire remained as part of Embracer. Matthew LoPilato, who was previously the CFO, is now the CEO, and Wilson, who was the CEO, remains a VP within the company.
“Our team is focused on our internal projects, including active development of Maneater 2, ongoing work on Killing Floor 3, and publishing efforts under the Tripwire Presents label,” Tripwire announced alongside this week’s layoffs. “We are continuing to give the best support possible to all of our games and remain committed to our awesome community.”
Gibson is onto new and different things, but clearly still resentful of how everything shook out. “For clarity, they didn’t oust the old guard, just me,” he wrote in a follow-up comment on X. “They definitely destroyed the culture and it turns out a company doing that and kicking out it’s founder and leader isn’t good for business. It’s a shame so many good people got caught in the crossfire.”
