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Published Aug 4, 2026, 5:33 AM EDT
The World Cup, and the dream of a better soccer game, is over
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Refactor Games, the studio behind the FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition game that was released just two months ago — and was exclusive to Netflix — has laid off 85% of its workforce. This news was confirmed by studio head Nathan Burba to GamesBeat, while an Inside Gaming report claims that publisher Delphi Interactive pulled funding for the studio.
This information is corroborated by Barclay Chantel, an ex-art director at Refactor Games, who posted on LinkedIn:
"Well, it looks like I’m back on the market looking for a job again. Delphi just pulled the plug on Refactor studios [sic] right after we shipped the FIFA World Cup game for Netflix. The entire studio was let go today so if anyone is looking for talent I can put you in contact with someone pretty awesome folks."
Prior to FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, Refactor Games worked on Football Simulator, which is a Steam Early Access title about the other type of football, played with an irregularly-shaped ball, shoulder pads, and helmets. Despite its very positive user review consensus, according to SteamDB, it peaked at 188 concurrent players in January 2025. At the time of writing, it has reached a maximum of 10 in the last 24 hours.
FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, on the other hand, boasted 1.5 million players in its first week alone, according to Game File, and Netflix's Q2 2026 fiscal report described it as one of its two "most successful cloud game debuts." Critically, however, it didn't fare anywhere near as well, with Aftermath calling it a "modern hellscape and an embarrassment to everyone involved."
There was a lot of hope riding on the shoulders of FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition, the first FIFA-branded video game since the global soccer organization split from publisher EA Sports. However, there was plenty of skepticism too, because many doubted it had the chops to create a soccer game alternative with even a fraction of its success under EA. Unfortunately, the haters seem to have been correct this time.
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