Max Mustard Studio Announces Major Staff Reductions and Office Closure, Commits to Continuing XR Game Development

Toast Interactive, a veteran virtual reality studio renowned for crafting Richie’s Plank Experience and the more recent Max Mustard, has made the tough decision to shutter its offices and let go of most of its team.

Based on the Gold Coast in Australia, the studio shared the sad news via a post on the platform X, indicating that “the majority of our talented staff have suffered redundancies.”

This announcement follows a previous wave of layoffs from November 2024, which saw 10 staff members departing. Back then, the studio expressed that, even though Max Mustard earned top ratings on both PSVR 2 and Meta Quest, it unfortunately couldn’t support a large independent team.

As of now, how many employees are affected remains uncertain. However, the studio isn’t completely closing its doors. Some team members will stick around, adopting a leaner model to continue enhancing both Richie’s Plank Experience and Max Mustard.

Husband and wife duo Toni and Richard Eastes founded Toast Interactive in 2016. They struck gold early on with the launch of Richie’s Plank Experience, a thrilling game where players walk a physical plank synced to their virtual counterpart high above the ground.

Initially designed for the HTC Vive, this popular experience eventually broadened its reach to support Rift, Quest, and the original PSVR systems. The team even affirmed a PSVR 2 version is underway.

In 2024, Toast Interactive introduced gamers to Max Mustard, a charming VR platformer drawing comparisons to Sony Japan Studio’s Astro Bot Rescue Mission. While initially available on Quest 2 and newer devices, Max Mustard later expanded to SteamVR headsets and PSVR 2.

These challenging times coincide with broader shifts in the XR gaming market that began around early 2024. This period saw major shutdowns, including Meta’s Ready at Dawn and Sony’s London Studio, to name a few. Alongside, others like Archiact, famous for the DOOM 3 Quest port, faced similar adversities.

More recently, studios like VRChat, Fast Travel Games, Soul Assembly, XR Games, and nDreams have faced workforce reductions, mirroring the industry’s fluctuating landscape.

Toast Interactive summarized their sentiments in a heartfelt post, expressing profound gratitude for their team’s efforts and contributions, while pledging to maintain the quality of their flagship games with a more streamlined team. They closed with thanks to everyone who’s been part of their journey.

Sincerely,
Toni and Richard