The layoff screencap statements on social media are getting weirder. Earlier this week, Auroch Digital announced around a quarter of its employees would be impacted by a “restructuring” just two weeks after releasing its boomer shooter Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 to overwhelming positive reviews on Steam, though apparently not overwhelmingly strong sales. The company later deleted the layoff notice, only to repost now. Huh?
“Despite that creative success, the same market conditions that have challenged so many of our fellow developers have now also affected us,” the initial statement on October 26 read. “Consequently, we have made the decision to restructure the studio to work through a turbulent and uncertain time in our industry.”
People were very confused. Did Auroch change its mind about the layoffs? Was it unsatisfied with the particular word choice or cadence of the latest familiar layoff notice to glaze across fans eyeballs?
So even if you make a good, successful game, it’s not enough to protect you or your job.
The crash can’t come soon enough.
— SFF (@TSFF19) October 28, 2026
The studio returned today, October 28, with a new announcement once again confirming incoming layoffs that basically says the exact same thing. What it does not do is confirm the precise scale of the cuts, which a now-deleted LinkedIn message put at around 25 percent of the Bristol, England-based studio.
Following the launch of the first Boltgun in 2023, Auroch Digital shipped Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! earlier this year, followed by Boltgun 2 in mid-October. It has Warhammer Suvivors coming next month on November 10.
Boltgun 2 has a 96 percent positive rating on Steam right now, but less than 1,000 user reviews. The original game has so far earned over 11,000 reviews on Steam and later came to Game Pass. Like we’re seeing all over the place these days, shipping another great game wasn’t enough to secure more runway for the studio at its current capacity.
