Invincible VS Hit By Layoffs Just Months After Launch

Invincible VS, the tag fighting game released in April 2026, has already been impacted by layoffs. The game, which was developed by Skybound Games and Quarter Up, celebrated one million players in May, but it seems there hasn't been the momentum the developers were hoping for, which has led to layoffs.

A senior combat designer at Quarter Up, Rip Parbhoo, better known within the FGC as Reepal or Rip, was impacted by the layoffs and spoke about them on X. In a lengthy post, he said:

My time with @InvincibleVS has come to end as I was impacted by layoffs today. Getting to work on a fighting game, for an IP like Invincible, was an unbelievable experience that I am extremely grateful to have had.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing next, but if anyone has an immediate need for a Senior Combat Designer on a fighting game, you better grab me before I get distracted with some other hobby 😆

Getting to work on Rex, Robot, DupliKate, and the final DLC character in Year 1 was such a fulfilling experience. Learning the process of translating a character from my mind to the game was such a rewarding challenge. I loved trying to push the envelope for what was in the game. For Rex, I added wall jumps and runs to the system. For Robot, I actually had dual modes with different movesets and robot drones that eventually got scrapped. DupliKate was by far my favorite, though, as figuring out how her clones were going to be used and absorbed without going over the hardware budgets was extremely challenging, not to mention giving her an install super.

My favorite moment of development, though, was definitely getting to implement the damage scaling system. The game had such a unique combo system that traditional damage scaling didn't really fit, so figuring out a formula that actually fit the system was a lot of fun.

I also got to design the training mode and always advocated for longer combos, whether it be via boost dash canceling, specials refreshing, lowering the combo meter via active assists, etc.

I got my degree in Computer Science because I wanted to work in the video game industry, and after two decades of competing, strategy guide authoring, esports commentating, and content creating, I finally got to add Combat Designer to the list and ship a title. Bucket list item checked ✅

I learned so much at this job and had so much fun with my coworkers. I got to partake in publisher pitch meetings with PlayStation and Xbox and even got to visit Epic Games HQ! I also did tons of press interviews at both Gamescom in Germany and Brazil. The amount I learned about the industry over these two years was incredible.

Until whatever next happens for me, come hang out on my Twitch channel to keep up! Also, the next two characters coming out for Invincible VS should be absolutely ridiculous! (The last one is my final character, and that character is designed to be insane!)

FGC commentator Jeremy Lopez, also known as Vicious, was also impacted by the layoffs. He also spoke about the situation, thanking his colleagues for the special time he spent with them.

It is unclear why the layoffs happened, but it may simply be because the game, beyond its initial hype at launch, hasn't retained players. It currently sits at around 30 active players on SteamDB, with a 24-hour peak of about 100 players and an all-time peak of 8,435 players from three months ago. This puts it behind the games it would have hoped to compete with, such as Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8, which boast much higher player counts.

This has become something of a trend recently. There were also layoffs affecting the 2XKO team at Riot Games, heightening concerns about the development and long-term support of new fighting games.

It is unclear what this means for the future of the game. Will they continue to support it? Just under a month ago there was a launch trailer for season 1 with new characters promised, will that still go ahead? There are many questions, but at the moment, there are so few answers until we get an official update from the developers.