Ukrainian studio PlayMe, which developed the AI-dating game MeChat and was part of the Genesis ecosystem, is completely shutting down. More than 100 of the company's specialists have been laid off, but will receive financial compensation and assistance with further employment.
Ukrainian studio PlayMe, which developed the AI-dating game MeChat and was part of the Genesis ecosystem, is completely shutting down. Over 100 of the company's specialists have been laid off, but will receive financial compensation and assistance with further employment.
DOU writes about this with reference to anonymous messages from employees, as well as an official comment from PlayMe representatives.
The decision to close the studio was announced to the team suddenly on one day. After that, the date of the last working day was discussed with each employee individually. Current tasks are completed mainly by those specialists who are directly involved in freezing and closing projects.
Despite the unexpectedness of the situation, the layoffs are taking place on agreed terms. In addition to payments, specialists are being helped to find new vacancies, in particular, options for moving to other companies in the Genesis ecosystem are being considered.
PlayMe confirmed the fact of the layoffs and clarified the details of the compensation package:
"There were forced layoffs at PlayMe. Employees were paid compensation in the amount of 1 salary and up to 2 salaries for unused vacation," the company reported.
The publication "Kutok", citing an anonymous source, notes that employees were gathered for a general meeting without warning on September 23 and informed that the company would cease operations the next day.
The reason for the shutdown was the company's funding. The employees were told that this was due to a change in approach to funding and risks after the FTC case against Genesis Tech, as well as the deterioration of MeChat's marketing performance. PlayMe's other games were not generating enough revenue to support the company on their own.
PlayMe Senior Social Media Manager Kateryna Palamarchuk said on LinkedIn that the entire PlayMe team was laid off last week.
The studio worked on MeChat, a mobile dating simulator with interactive romantic stories.
"We were quite niche. Therefore, outside of our audience, few people knew that a large team in Ukraine was creating stories that people from all over the world were waiting for to be continued," Palamarchuk noted.
According to her, the team in Ukraine wrote stories, hand-drawn art, and
developed a product that has raised over 30 million over time
players.
Recall that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against the Ukrainian IT product company Genesis Tech , its founders and a number of affiliated companies. At the request of the regulator, a federal court temporarily suspended the activities of some Genesis-related structures in the US - they are suspected of misleading consumers through hidden debits and artificially complicating the cancellation of subscriptions. In early July, a court in California extended the freezing of assets .
