Key Notes
- Tripwire Interactive has cut 36 jobs after an earlier reduction of 23 roles in March, bringing its publicly announced layoffs this year to 59.
- A studio source told PC Gamer that roughly 40–50 employees remain, but Tripwire has not confirmed its total workforce.
- The studio says active development of Maneater 2, ongoing work on Killing Floor 3 and publishing through Tripwire Presents will continue.
Tripwire Interactive has laid off 36 employees in its second round of job cuts this year. The Killing Floor and Maneater developer says work on Maneater 2, Killing Floor 3 and its Tripwire Presents publishing label will continue.
The studio announced the reduction on November 9, describing it as difficult but necessary. It did not explain what prompted the cuts or identify which departments were affected. Tripwire thanked the departing staff and said it would support them through the transition.
A Second Round After the March Cuts
A source inside the studio told PC Gamer that roughly 40–50 employees remain. That estimate suggests the latest reduction affected close to half of the team, but Tripwire has not confirmed its total remaining workforce.
The company had already cut 23 jobs in March. At the time, it said it was aligning its staffing and long-term strategy with business conditions, according to PC Gamer’s earlier report. The two publicly announced rounds bring the number of departures to 59 this year.
That total records jobs lost across the two rounds. It does not establish how many people Tripwire employed at the start of 2026, since the company has not provided a full account of hiring and other staff changes between them.
Maneater 2 and Killing Floor 3 Remain Priorities
Tripwire’s latest statement explicitly names active development of Maneater 2 and ongoing work on Killing Floor 3 among the remaining team’s priorities. It also reaffirms its commitment to supporting its games and their communities.
For players, the immediate news is that both projects remain in Tripwire’s plans. The announcement contains no cancellation or new delay for either title, although it does not explain how the smaller workforce will be allocated between them.
Killing Floor 3 launched on Steam on July 24, 2025. Its co-op shooter format pits a squad of up to six players against waves of bioengineered enemies, with a single-player option also available. Continued development therefore concerns an existing game and its audience, alongside the work needed to finish the next Maneater.
Maneater 2 was announced in September, PC Gamer reports. The staffing statement does not attach a release date to the sequel or provide a revised schedule for Killing Floor 3 updates.
The Cuts Follow a Publishing Expansion
Just five days earlier, Tripwire announced a new indie publishing initiative under Tripwire Presents. The November 4 post introduced five games and described a program intended to help self-published projects reach more players.
PC Gamer describes the initiative as offering smaller developers a flexible selection of publishing services. The latest staffing announcement continues to list Tripwire Presents alongside internal development; it does not connect the layoffs to that expansion or say the initiative has been withdrawn.
We recently covered Funcom’s restructuring around continued support for Dune: Awakening and Conan Exiles. Funcom set out a shift from peak production to ongoing operation as its rationale. Tripwire’s November statement leaves its own reasons, affected departments and revised team structure unexplained.
