The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria developer Free Range Games has reportedly laid off the entire development team of an unannounced game, which totaled around 80 employees.
Via LinkedIn, multiple developers shared the news and announced their job searches over the past week. This includes senior UX/UI designer Quinn Le, senior technical narrative designer James Binns, executive producer Jacob Van Rooyen, quest designer Tracy Runanin-Telle, and senior producers Adrienne Daniel and Joseph Knox.
“On Monday, the project I’ve been working on for the last 4 years was pulled from our hands, and our entire development team was laid off,” Lee wrote. “We are all saddened, off-balance, but most of all, looking to the future.”
Knox said that the project had “its publisher pull funding,” which has affected “80 devs.” Daniel also mentioned this figure in their farewell post. Runanin-Telle’s profile mentions an unannounced project, in which the designer did “content creation for multiple quests in an open-world setting,” amidst a myriad of other tasks.
Free Range Games is yet to make an announcement acknowledging the latest reported layoffs. Two weeks ago, at least five developers wrote a post saying they were now seeking new work opportunities. Four of them used the same messaging, which reads as follows: “Hi everyone! I’m seeking a new role and would appreciate your support. If you hear of any opportunities or just want to catch up, please send me a message or comment below.”
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Shortly after, one of them, lead quest designer Adam Alim, wrote, “here we are again with the layoffs,” sharing details about their past experience alongside a portfolio.
Free Range Games previously laid off employees in April 2025
According to the company’s LinkedIn profile, there are at least 117 employees associated with it. The reported layoffs mark the second time the company has let go of workers this year. The first took place three months ago, which the studio announced via social media.
The company didn’t disclose the exact number of employees affected in the earlier layoffs, but it did say that “some of them” had “chosen to share their profiles” along with the announcement. The list included 13 people across multiple departments.
The studio is currently working on an online skateboarding game called Wrekless, which is set to release “soon” on Steam Early Access. It’s unclear if this is the project that was reportedly shut down. The studio has previously served as an external developer on games like The Callisto Protocol and Oddworld: Soulstorm.
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Game Developer has reached out to Free Range Games for comment on the matter.