Yuga Labs, the company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, has laid off some of its staff according to a blog post published by the company on 6 Oct.
The company’s CEO, Daniel Alegre, wrote:
“After … careful consideration, I have decided that we need to restructure the Yuga Labs teams. The consequence of these changes is that a number of roles have been eliminated across the company, affecting some of your colleagues.”
Alegre attributed the need for a change in strategy to insufficient launches in specific areas, particularly in the company’s gaming initiatives
Alegre revealed that as part of the restructuring, Yuga Labs will outsource certain activities to third-party companies. Yuga Labs’ internal development teams, meanwhile, will focus on web3 efforts and Otherside — the company’s metaverse platform.
Alegre said elsewhere in his letter that the company would go “all-in on [its] Strategy of the other side”. He noted that Otherside will launch new gaming experiences in 2024 and form long-term partnerships to complement Yuga Labs’ efforts.
BAYC, CryptoPunks efforts will remain active
Alegre also commented on the status of some high-profile products. He said Bored Ape Yacht Club will expand a program called “Made by Apes,” which serves as a licensing model and community showcase for fan creations. Additionally, Alegre hinted at the launch of a gaming experience tied to the Bored Ape product line, slated for 2024.
Allegre then noted that Yuga Labs will continue to manage CryptoPunks — a series of NFTs that Yuga Labs acquired in May 2022 — “improving and streamlining” the Punks app. He mentioned that a book on the NFT collection is still in progress.
While these two efforts will remain active, Alegre suggested that Yuga Labs will fold the Meebits and 10KTF teams into the Otherside team.
Yuga Labs did not describe specific market or revenue trends leading to staff reductions. However, activity in the NFT market has generally decreased despite generating a record $55 billion in revenue by 2022. Despite Yuga Labs’ role in some of the largest NFT collections, it is unlikely to have completely escaped this trend.
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