{
  "id": 15175154,
  "title": "Funcom is laying off yet more developers as it pivots to supporting Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/funcom-is-laying-off-yet-more-developers-as-it-pivots-to-supporting",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-17T10:32:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PC Gamer",
    "slug": "pc-gamer",
    "url": "https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/funcom-is-laying-off-yet-more-developers-as-it-pivots-to-supporting-dune-awakening-and-conan-exiles/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Funcom, the creator of Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles, is reducing its workforce as it focuses on maintaining existing games. The company's current CEO, Rui Casais, will step down after the restructuring is finished. Casais mentioned that Dune: Awakening, which he considered their biggest project, required extensive resources and that shifting from full production to post-launch development needs a different organization. While the studio regrets that they cannot retain all employees, they aim to support those affected during the transition. Dune: Awakening, released in June last year, became a massive success, selling a million copies in just two weeks. However, its long-term performance has been less impressive as player counts have declined and PvP elements have received mixed reviews. Following this, Funcom made layoffs in October of the previous year, and recently overhauled Dune: Awakening, adding solo and PvE modes. Conan Exiles also received significant upgrades this year, including a new engine, a major paid expansion, and an improved endowment slider. Funcom now plans to rest on its laurels with both games, showing little interest in starting new projects at the moment. The company has not disclosed the exact number of employees affected by the layoffs, but they promised to respect the privacy of the affected workers throughout the process. Once reorganization is complete, Casais will be succeeded by Funcom's Chief Product Officer, Scott Junior, who was the Executive Producer on Dune: Awakening.",
  "summary": "CEO Rui Casais to depart the company at the end of the year.",
  "key_points": [
    "Funcom reduces workforce to focus on Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles",
    "CEO Rui Casais steps down after restructuring",
    "Dune: Awakening sold a million copies in two weeks"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}