Paizo is laying off 12 employees, due to losses sustained from Diamond Comics' bankruptcy last year. Paizo announced the news in a post made to their website today, citing losses caused by ongoing litigation surrounding Diamond's bankruptcy. Paizo stated they lost $2 million in 2025, which has necessitated the move. Diamond was Paizo's exclusive bookstore distributor and Paizo was one of several RPG companies caught up when Diamond declared bankruptcy last year. JP Morgan Chase claimed a lien on all product currently held by Diamond after they declared bankruptcy, which included stock owned by Paizo that was held by Diamond for consignment sales. Diamond also appealed the termination of Paizo's exclusive contract, meaning that Paizo hasn't been able to move to a new bookstore distributor.
Paizo is currently working with their union on the layoffs, with severance offered to impacted employees. If volunteers aren't found, Paizo will layoff the least-senior employee in each impacted division.
Additionally, Paizo will reduce their new Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society offerings to once a month starting in October. Foundry VTT modules for organized play will also be paused until Paizo can find a way to increase profitability. "These changes are not a retreat," Paizo said of the changes. "Paizo believes strongly in the power of Organized Play and always will, but the current publishing model for Society scenarios is not working and we need to slow down, stem the financial losses from a struggling program and evaluate where to go from here."