WB Games Montréal, the developers behind games such as Batman: Arkham Origins, Gotham Knights, and assisting Rocksteady with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, recently announced that they will be laying off 99 employees. Most of those laid off come from Keywords, a subcontractor who works on quality assurance for WB Games. The news will affect a significant portion of the studio, which consists of only about 300 in-house employees in addition to 240 employees from Keyword.
The affected employees were informed on Monday via videoconference that there were insufficient projects to continue keeping them on. They would have eight weeks to either work with counselors to find a new job or be placed on a waitlist for new projects to open up in 2026. According to interviews with Radio Canada, employees did not indicate that layoffs were coming in meetings earlier this year. In fact, they were informed that there would be plenty of upcoming work. The announcement is especially hard for those planning to celebrate the upcoming Holidays.
I feel stressed and depressed. I feel like the company just ruined 99 lives.
The decision was made in the wake of a string of poor reports for the company. Both Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League fell well short of expectations, both in terms of sales and critical reception. One fired employee reported to Radio Canada that he felt his job could have been saved if Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had been managed better. As for the expected work in 2026, WB Games Montréal is believed to be working on an unannounced DC Comics project.
