‘Lost’ Yuga Labs restructures again, with layoffs, new executive

The creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club has been struggling with a changing market and still plans to focus on its Otherside metaverse project.

Yuga Labs CEO Greg Solano had a “tough day,” he informed company employees in a message that he then shared with the world on X. Some of those employees had an even worse day after an all-hands meeting where layoffs were announced. Yuga lost its way, Solano explained.

In his message to the staff, Solano said he had been appraising the company in the two months since he took over as CEO, and his conclusion was unsettling:

“The creative-first spirit that drove this company from inception has been getting muddied by labyrinthine corporate processes. We work hard and we care but somehow end up with groups and committees. We plan more than we ship.”

“Creator royalties were thriving and made our whole ecosystem electric. Now we’re in hard mode,” Solano said, but he has a plan.

Solano said some steps in the reorganization have already been taken, pointing to the spinout of HV-MTL and Legends of the Mara, announced April 17. Game developer Faraway, already a Yuga collaborator, acquired those properties and took Yuga chief gaming officer Spencer Tucker onboard along with them. In his April 26 message, Solano said Yuga would concentrate on developing its Otherside metaverse project.

Related: Judge rejects Ryder Ripps’ counterclaims against Yuga Labs, orders $9M payout

Just before Solano made his announcement, Won Kim announced on X that he had been appointed the Yuga head of brand partnerships. Kim was the co-founder of Bored Room Ventures nonfungible token (NFT) fund and consulting agency, which he left for Yuga, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The X crypto community showed a mixed reaction to the news of the layoffs. Reaction to Solano’s post was overwhelmingly supportive.

Trolls came out as well. “I was just laid off from @yugalabs I was the Discord mod responsible for kicking out holders who said anything negative about yuga. I worked 2 hours a day for a $200k salary, mostly fighting milady pfps and spamming gm,” Ricefarmer wrote. They identified themselves as the founder of Ohayo Labs on their X page.

Yuga pioneered NFT collectibles but has struggled during the evolution of that market. In October, the company underwent restructuring, with a round of layoffs.

Yuga Labs declined to comment further on the situation when Cointelegraph reached out for more information.