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Reflector Entertainment reported two rounds of job cuts after Unknown 9: Awakening launched in October 2024—but the studio gave different explanations for each. In November, it described a refocus and said the first reduction was not driven by commercial success or external pressures. In January 2025, CEO Hervé Hoerdt tied further redundancies to the game falling short of company expectations and to the cancellation of another project.
What happened in each round?
| Date | What Reflector reported | Disclosed scale |
|---|---|---|
| November 2024 | Reflector described the cuts as a refocusing, and said they were not due to commercial success or external pressures. Game Developer reported staff impacts across art, marketing, narrative, and quality assurance. | 18% of the workforce, confirmed by Reflector and reported by Game Developer. |
| January 2025 | Reflector ended development on a project that was still in conceptualization. Hoerdt said the further redundancies correlated directly with Unknown 9 failing to meet company expectations. | The number affected was not stated in Game Developer. |
The 18% figure applies to the November round only. The January report did not disclose a headcount or percentage for the later cuts.
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Why did Reflector say it made the first cuts?
In its November 2024 account, Reflector framed the reduction as an organizational refocus. It said the decision was not driven by commercial success or external pressures, according to Game Developer. That explanation should not be rewritten as a public admission that the game’s sales caused the November layoffs.
What changed by January 2025?
In January, Reflector confirmed another round of redundancies after it stopped work on a separate project in conceptualization. Hoerdt’s statement connected that later decision to the performance of Unknown 9: Awakening: “This decision correlates directly with the failure of the studio’s ambitious and courageous first project, a new IP with a rich transmedia universe. The performance of the release didn’t come near the company expectations, after numerous timeline adjustments and investments, both financially and other, and didn’t warrant any further exploration in this universe.” The statement was reported by Game Developer.
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This is Hoerdt’s assessment of the game’s performance and the company’s rationale for the January decision. The cited reporting does not provide sales, revenue, or a total number of employees affected, so it does not establish an independent commercial measure of the game’s results.
How does the game’s timeline fit?
Reflector announced on August 20, 2024, that Unknown 9: Awakening would launch on October 18 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. It was conceived as part of a broader storyworld that included novels, comics, a scripted podcast, and the game. Those details appear in Reflector’s release announcement and press materials.
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Bandai Namco Holdings announced in September 2020 that its subsidiary Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe had agreed to acquire all issued shares of Reflector. The announcement also described Reflector as developing Unknown 9: Awakening in partnership with that subsidiary; it does not establish the present-day corporate arrangement. See the Bandai Namco announcement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the layoffs do—and do not—establish
The reports describe a change in the studio’s plans following the game’s release: the first reduction was presented as a refocus, while the later one accompanied a cancelled conceptual project and Hoerdt’s stated assessment that the game fell short of expectations. They do not establish current staffing, the total number of jobs lost across both rounds, or the status of every novel, comic, or other part of the wider Unknown 9 universe.
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