Bit.Trip dev Choice Provisions lays off staff, closes San Francisco studio

Choice Provisions, the creator of the Bit.Trip franchise previously known as Gaijin Games, has been reduced to a single-studio developer.

The outlet was created in 2007 and found success with its rhythm-based runner series. It released mobile-cum-console title Tharsis earlier this year.

Writing on the company’s blog, co-founder Alex Neuse revealed that “some really great people” had been laid off and the dev’s second San Francisco office had been closed.

Going forward, Neuse added, Choice Provisions would focus on development at its HQ in Santa Cruz.

“The decision was incredibly difficult, and we did everything we could to maintain the company as it had been, but unfortunately, having two studios was just not sustainable in the long term,” he explained.

“Over the past few years, the game industry has changed so dramatically that a mid-sized studio operating as we have for the past several years, just simply can’t continue in the same way.”