Vermila Studios lays off its staff, studio closure a 'feasible possibility' in coming months

Vermila Studios has cut its staff, putting the studio in a precarious position and raising the possibility of a full shutdown in the near term. CEO David Carrasco says the company will try to “pull through for the time being” without closing, but that wording leaves little doubt about how fragile things are right now.

The exact number of layoffs and the roles affected haven’t been disclosed, which makes it hard to gauge whether this is a partial restructuring or effectively a wind-down. Either way, the immediate impact is the same: projects slow down, production continuity breaks, and remaining work often shifts from building to triage.

For developers, this is the familiar business-side failure mode that can hit even small studios with active projects: cash pressure, missed milestones, and a shrinking ability to support live operations or finish content. When a studio starts talking about closure as a feasible outcome, it usually means the next few months are about survival rather than growth.

It’s also a reminder for teams and contractors to keep an eye on payment risk, scope creep, and dependency chains. When a studio enters this phase, the people most exposed are usually the ones waiting on final deliverables, approvals, or payroll.