Funcom lays off more staff to focus on Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles

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Funcom is laying off more developers as it narrows its focus to two live games, Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles. PC Gamer reports that the Norwegian studio is making the cuts as part of a broader restructuring. It is another sign of how tough the industry remains in 2026

There is also a change at the top. Chief executive Rui Casais is stepping down after many years in charge, and Scott Junior is taking over the role. Leadership changes like this often come with a new strategy, so the focus on two games is probably part of that shift

Dune: Awakening had a strong start, selling one million copies in its first two weeks. Survival games built on a famous licence have obvious appeal, and Funcom has plenty of experience in the genre from Conan Exiles. Keeping players engaged over years is the hard part, though

Conan Exiles has been running for a long time now and still has a loyal community. Supporting it alongside Dune makes commercial sense, because both games share a similar style of open world survival. Updates for both should be the priority from here

Layoffs are always painful, especially for people who helped deliver a successful launch. A million sales in two weeks would once have meant job security. Today it seems even a hit is no guarantee

Are you still playing Dune: Awakening? And should studios focus on fewer games, or spread their bets?

Funcom is laying off yet more developers as it pivots to supporting Dune: Awakening and Conan Exileswww.pcgamer.com