Is SCUM Still Getting Updates After the Gamepires Layoffs?

SCUM is still in active development after layoffs at its studio. Gamepires said on October 14, 2026 that it was reducing the size of its team, and on October 22 the studio posted on Steam that the game’s Halloween update arrives Wednesday, October 28.

The layoff statement came from the official SCUM account. Gamepires called it “a business decision, not a judgement on the team’s work,” said the step was needed to adapt to “challenging market conditions,” and promised that development continues “with further updates and new content to come.” It didn’t say how many people left. Splash Damage, the group that owns Gamepires, gave PC Gamer a statement that repeats the same line: development of SCUM will continue, with the team still supporting updates and new content.

The Steam post is the more useful proof for players. The October 28 Halloween update brings new Halloween items plus fixes and improvements. It also carries a partial wipe across all official servers, along with merges of selected quieter official servers so more players share each one. Gamepires says some players will need to act before the maintenance window to keep their preferred character, and that there will be no further official-server wipes this year.

After Halloween, the studio lists the Tattoo System, controller support and Photo Mode for the next update, and says work on its next season is already underway, along with preparations to test a “Survivalist” ruleset with players. The wipe was previously tied to the Tattoo System update, so that timing has changed.

A roadmap in a Steam post is a promise, and it can’t show how a smaller team holds up over several months. The Halloween patch is the first real test. For example, if the update goes out on the 28th as Gamepires scheduled it and the server merges go cleanly, that’s a good sign for the rest of the list. If you play on an official server, check the Steam post for the character steps before the maintenance window, because that’s the part that can cost you progress. The cuts came about a week before EA announced it was closing BioWare, part of a stretch of studio cuts in October.

Edited by Kerwin Stewart, Editor-in-Chief · How we report