Canada-based studio Relic Entertainment, which recently released Company of Heroes 3, did receive some good news in the midst of these layoffs. The company announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it is becoming an independent studio thanks to the help of “an external investor” who went unnamed.
How independent is Relic really if they got bought by an unnamed external investor? Still better than getting axed and hoping the same kinda layoffs won‘t just come later („The studio hasn’t indicated if it will lay off any workers as part of the shift“).
The investor has a stake in the company, so they share in the successes and take on the risk of failure, but they provide capital to make this purchase from the parent company in the first place.
I mean that’s how most independent studios work. There’s always someone with money investing into the studio, be it an external investor or sometime at the studio.