A former member of Mob Entertainment’s Escape from Playtime Team claims “almost all” staff working on the project have been laid off.
The news comes from a LinkedIn post penned by a former lead game designer at the studio on November 4, 2026.
“Today is a tough day,” they wrote. “Mob has laid off almost the entire Escape From Playtime team, including myself. If anyone knows of any work that I or any of the team affected can do, please reach out. This industry is tough, but the people band together to help each other out. Today that help is needed.
“For my friends affected at Mob I’m sorry, we did an amazing job, and pushed out a fantastic game. Be proud of what we accomplished. For those at Mob not affected, I will miss you all. Thank you for the opportunity to make EFP. Back to the grind.”
Escape From Playtime is an online survival co-op game for two to eight players based on the horror mascot Poppy Playtime franchise. In the game, teams play as Smiling Critters plushes as they scavenge for resources and avoid monstrous mascot monsters. The spinoff was released on October 21, 2026; with so many staff being laid off just two weeks later, fans understandably grew worried about the game’s future.
Luckily, it has been confirmed that Escape From Playtime is still sticking around — at least, for now. On the game’s official Discord channel, Mob Entertainment’s senior communications manager Tyler Sanchez spoke out about the layoffs and vaguely hinted at what’s next for the game. Sanchez said that development on the title will continue, outlining several improvements that are planned based on players’ feedback thus far.
“We’ve had to make the incredibly tough decision to part ways with some talented members of our team who helped bring Escape From Playtime to life. These are people who poured their creativity and passion into building this game and making it something special. We’re incredibly grateful for everything they’ve contributed, and we want to take a moment to recognize the people behind the work. This isn’t the kind of news we ever want to share, and we know it’s difficult to hear, especially for a community that cares so deeply about the game and the people who make it,” he wrote.
“We also know that this will carry uncertainty from many of you about the future of Escape From Playtime. To be clear, development on the game continues. We’ve already made changes to the roadmap based on your feedback, including improvements to matchmaking, the order in which we’ll roll out bigger body enemies, making the existing map more diverse and interesting, and much more.
“We know that news like this can bring a lot of questions, and it’s important to us that we’re transparent about where things stand. While we don’t have every answer to share just yet, we’ll continue to communicate the development process with you all.”
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.