Refactor Games laid off most of its staff on Friday, July 31, 2026, just weeks after shipping FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition for Netflix Games. CEO Nathan Burba confirmed that the studio cut 85% of its workforce.
A separate report from Inside Gaming put the number at around 80 people. Sources told Inside Gaming that Delphi Interactive, the game’s co-developer and part-owner of Refactor, pulled its funding. Here’s everything confirmed so far about the layoffs and what led to them.
Refactor Games Layoffs: What We Know
Burba did not elaborate on the reason for the cuts in his message to GamesBeat. Multiple former employees, however, posted on LinkedIn saying Delphi withdrew financial support right after the game’s release. One art director wrote that Delphi “pulled the plug on Refactor Studios right after we shipped the FIFA World Cup game for Netflix” and that the entire studio was let go that day.
Staff were notified during a general meeting on July 31. According to reports, no severance was offered, and that day’s regular payday served as employees’ final paycheck.
Why Delphi Interactive Pulled Funding
Delphi Interactive, founded in 2020, licenses IP and co-develops games with outside studios. It confirmed part ownership of Refactor Games earlier in 2026.
The exact reason Delphi pulled funding has not been officially stated. Neither Delphi nor Netflix has commented publicly on the layoffs.
FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition and Its Reception
FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition launched on Netflix Games on June 11, 2026, timed to the opening of the FIFA World Cup tournament. The game let players choose a team and play on TV, computer, or mobile with up to four friends, with no additional cost for Netflix subscribers.
Reviews were largely negative. Critics pointed to weak visuals, clunky controls, and rough player AI.
Despite the criticism, both companies publicly praised the game’s performance. In July, Delphi CEO Casper Daugaard said the title was “doing extremely well.” Netflix separately named FIFA one of its two most successful cloud game debuts on an earnings call. Weeks later, most of the team behind it lost their jobs.
Conflicting Reports on the Studio’s Future
Early reports, based on former employees’ LinkedIn posts, described Refactor Games as shut down entirely. Burba’s account to GamesBeat is narrower. He confirmed an 85% staff reduction but said the studio is regrouping, and that he hopes to bring back some laid-off staff for other projects. He did not specify what those projects would be or what remains of Refactor to run them.
Nathan Burba, a co-founder of VR studio Survios, started Refactor Games in 2022. The studio’s original plan was a game called Football Simulator, meant to compete with EA’s Madden NFL, released in early access that year. It is unclear exactly when Refactor shifted focus to the Delphi-Netflix FIFA project.
FIFA’s split from EA dates back to 2022, when EA declined to continue paying the licensing fee for the FIFA name. That fee had historically run around $150 million a year under EA, and reportedly jumped to a demand of $1 billion per four-year World Cup cycle. The breakup left FIFA free to find new gaming partners under its own name, eventually leading to the Delphi and Netflix deal.
Refactor Games is also backed by Andreessen Horowitz, according to reports. The company still has an early-access Football Simulator title live, separate from the Netflix FIFA project.
