TMNT: The Last Ronin slashes 50% of its developers

The upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game TMNT: The Last Ronin has lost half of its developers following even more industry layoffs.

Following Xbox’s erasure of 1,900 jobs across itself, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, developer Black Forest Games has also let go of around 50% of its workforce.

Known for its work on the remasters of Destroy All Humans, Black Forest Games is currently hard at work on the secretive TMNT game. Adapting the beloved comic book of the same name, the action game will be a mature take on the heroes with a half-shell.

Via Kotaku, Black Forest Games now has just 55 workers, down from 110. According to the report, the remaining staff includes the game’s creative directors and “most if not all” managers at the studio.

Revealed in August 2023, TMNT: The Last Ronin is part of a huge gaming push from IP holder Paramount. With new Star Trek games in the works alongside Transformers and more, the studio’s decades-long run of IP could make for some huge gaming releases.

Black Forest Games’ adaptation of the stunning graphic novel is reportedly inspired by the recent PlayStation exclusive God of War games. This means that fans will be able to play through a mature story with fantastic, visceral combat, if everything goes according to plan.

The story takes place in an alternate future where only one of the infamous turtles survives (we won’t spoil who). In order to avenge their fallen brothers, the titular Last Ronin aims to slay Shredder’s grandson. If you haven’t read the five-issue comic series, we highly suggest it.

TMNT’s game adaptation may also pull in parts of the follow-up prequel comic Lost Years. By adapting some of these chapters, it could further spread out the game’s narrative.

TMNT: The Last Ronin doesn’t currently have a release window. However, the game is slated to release across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/Series S. There’s currently no word on whether the game will come to the Nintendo Switch 2.