Layoffs at Funko Fusion developer 10:10 Games blamed on 'complete commercial and critical failure' of the game

10:10 Games, a studio based in Warrington, England, has laid off staff, according to sources quoted Insider Gaming, due to its first release being a "complete commercial and critical failure".

Funko Fusion was an attempt to catch the lightning in a bottle of the Lego games, only instead of the charm of Lego they were working with the dead-eyed horror of Funko Pops. Still, they had characters from popular properties like Team Fortress 2, Mega Man, Back to the Future, The Walking Dead, and Scott Pilgrim to put through themed smash-and-grab collectible hunt levels, and it's not like anyone can explain the success of Funko Pop. Maybe it could have worked?

It didn't, however, ending up with an OpenCritic rating of 53, and sitting at a Mixed rating on Steam with 68% positive user reviews.

Insider Gaming's sources said that performance of Funko Fusion was so poor that attempts to get funding for multiple follow-up projects failed, leading to staff being laid off because there "isn't enough work to give the whole team". Before the layoffs were announced, staff were encouraged to use up their vacation time, resulting in several of them discovering they had been let go while overseas on holiday. They were still expected to make it to consultation meetings, despite being in different time zones.

"Management seemed very keen to wrap up the process quickly," a source told Insider Gaming, "and despite saying that they were fully open to suggestions and feedback, none of it has been taken on board".