F1 Manager developer Frontier accused of mismanagement in wake of layoffs

The latest, F1 Manager 2023, was described as "a clone of last year's perforce repository with a few extras added, sold at full price" and "an insult to the very small player base".

"That's actually been the biggest issue seen across multiple titles: uncontrollable spending, poor decisions (such as what licences we pay for, games we make, and what we fund), and then trying to offset it with unrealistic sales expectations, which anyone internally could tell you even early on that we'd never be able to hit," said one source.

"Integration activities and growth plans for Complex are on-track, and the acquisition delivered modest accretive financial benefits in FY23, as expected," reads a statement from Frontier in response.

A statement to GLHF reads: "The executive directors have acknowledged that some of the decisions made over the last five years, particularly in terms of business diversification, have not delivered the anticipated levels of financial performance."

These decisions ultimately led to recent layoffs, which former senior community manager Francesca Falcini described as "humiliating, dehumanising, and cruel".

The majority of cuts occurred in publishing and community management, although ironically Frontier is currently hiring for two positions in this area to refill after layoffs.