Ustwo considers more contractors

Game development staffing is the story here — and the stakes are pretty blunt. Ustwo Games, the Monument Valley studio, says it is actively considering a future with a smaller core team and more contractors brought in as needed. The reason is cost. Maria Sayans says the studio can’t keep making games on the old budget model if it wants to stay healthy and keep shipping. (gamesindustry.biz) ### What changed at Ustwo? The new part is that Ustwo is no longer just talking about platform strategy. It is now talking about staffing strategy too. Sayans said the studio is looking at a setup where a permanent core team stays in place, but growth around each project comes through contractors rather than full-time hires. She (gamesindustry.biz)onse to rising costs. (gamesindustry.biz) ### Why is cost suddenly the whole point? Because the old math looks rough. Ustwo’s recent projects were described as landing around £7 million to £10 million and taking three to four years to make. For a studio known for polished premium games, that is a big swing. If one project misses, the damage is real. A contractor model gi(gamesindustry.biz) Basically, it turns labor into a more variable cost. (app.daily.dev) ### Why does PC-first connect to this? PC is the other half of the rethink. Earlier this year, Sayans said Ustwo is now a “PC first” studio because mobile-first development forced compromises in product design and marketing, and because PC gives the company a more direct relationship with its audience. That matters here becau(app.daily.dev)nd how much bespoke work each project really needs. (gamesindustry.biz) ### Didn’t Ustwo used to be a mobile studio? Very much so. Ustwo built its name on Monument Valley, then expanded with games like Assemble with Care, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, and Desta. Its recent history also ran through platform partners like Apple Arcade and Netflix. Monument Valley 3 launched on Netflix in December 2024, then later moved out to (gamesindustry.biz)side a longer move away from dependency on closed-platform deals. (gamesindustry.biz) ### Why does this feel bigger than one studio? Because Ustwo is not some anonymous work-for-hire shop. It is one of the best-known premium indie studios in mobile games, with a B Corp identity and a reputation for thoughtful, stable creative work. If even that kind of studio is saying full-time security can be “too romantic” under current economics, th(gamesindustry.biz)turings, and cost cutting. Ustwo’s version is gentler in tone, but it points in the same direction. (ustwogames.co.uk) ### So what does this mean for developers? More project-based hiring, most likely. That can help studios survive, and sometimes it gives specialists more flexibility. But the catch is obvious — more contractors usually means less long-term security, less continuity, and more pressure to build games in chunks that can be handed off cleanly. For narrative, design, and art teams, that can shape the work(ustwogames.co.uk)erence from the staffing model, but it follows from how contract-heavy production usually gets organized. (gamesindustry.biz) ### Where does this leave Ustwo now? Ustwo still has three game teams in development, and it has not abandoned mobile or console. But the company is clearly rebuilding its playbook — PC as the lead platform, smaller permanent staffing, and tighter control over budgets. The old version of premium indie development was built on the(gamesindustry.biz)harder edges. (gamesindustry.biz) ### Bottom line? This is a cost story wearing a staffing story’s clothes. Ustwo is trying to protect creative ambition by making the studio itself more flexible. But flexibility for a company usually means less certainty for workers — and that is the part the rest of the industry will recognize immediately.