Hitman and 007 First Light developer IO Interactive announced last week that it had lost funding for Project Fantasy, an "online fantasy RPG" first announced in 2023, and that as a result, "we have to adapt to this new reality and its short-term consequences, including staffing decisions." That sure sounded like layoffs were incoming, and today, the studio confirmed it, saying that it is closing its studio in Istanbul and beginning the layoff process for an unspecified number of employees.
"Following the end of our external finance partnership on Project Fantasy, IOI has regained full ownership of the project and our IP," the studio wrote on X. "We will continue to develop and fund it independently amongst our other projects.
