Star Atlas on Solana Cuts Over 70% of Its Workforce
Star Atlas, a once high-profile game on the Solana blockchain, has acknowledged its challenging situation and has decided to undertake a significant reduction in its workforce.
Star Atlas Cuts Over 70% of Its Workforce
In an announcement posted on Discord on July 25, the development team behind Star Atlas, ATMTA, revealed that it is undergoing a major restructuring to address current difficulties. This restructuring includes a substantial workforce reduction.
The announcement stated:
“ATMTA is undergoing a significant reduction in staff to ensure long-term viability, continue developing Star Atlas and mobile applications with short-term potential, and explore the possibility of building other products.”
CEO and Co-founder’s Address
ATMTA noted that after a period of rapid growth in 2021, the company has faced a downtrend in 2022-2023 with numerous challenges affecting revenue and player engagement.
The development team admitted that a third of the revenue from in-game item sales was held in Star Atlas’s ATLAS tokens, which have significantly depreciated over the past year. Additionally, ATMTA suffered a $15 million loss due to the collapse of FTX in November 2022, which represented a substantial portion of the project’s cash reserves.
Unable to secure additional funding, Star Atlas decided to reduce its workforce from 235 at the end of 2022, and 167 after FTX's collapse, to the current number of 45—a reduction of 73%.
Star Atlas was a highly popular Play-to-Earn game in 2021, emerging at the peak of the Web3 gaming trend and having its Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) on FTX. The price of the ATLAS token has dropped more than five times over the past year.
Price Movement of ATLAS Token in the Past Year:
Screenshot from CoinMarketCap as of the evening of July 25, 2023
Broader Industry Impact
The trend of workforce reductions continues to impact major projects and companies in the crypto industry in 2023, with notable names including Polygon, Magic Eden, ConsenSys, Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Binance.
The ongoing challenges in the crypto sector highlight the difficulties faced by many projects in sustaining growth and navigating market downturns.
