Mighty Coconut, the independent studio powering the enduring VR sensation Walkabout Mini Golf, has trimmed its workforce by 25%, leaving 27 developers to steer the ship. Founder Lucas Martell detailed the changes in a candid blog post, citing mounting pressures in VR game development as the catalyst for the reductions and a hike in future DLC prices.

“After a lot of long conversations, trimming expenses, and careful number-crunching, it became clear that reducing our size by about 25% was the only sustainable path forward,” Martell wrote on the studio’s site (Mighty Coconut). The move pares back ambitions for the iOS Pocket Edition, with new courses halting there and crossplay with VR eventually sunsetting.

Starting with the next release, new DLC courses will cost $4.99, up $1 from prior pricing, as courses have “grown in complexity.” Mighty Coconut plans six courses annually, down from seven, with a summer pause, prioritizing core VR expansion over side features like chess and slingshots.

VR Darling Faces Real-World Pressures

Launched in 2020 as a solo project with four courses at $14.99, Walkabout Mini Golf has ballooned into a behemoth: by late 2025, players logged 23 million hours across 37 courses, spanning 393 square kilometers of explorable space (Mighty Coconut). Available on Quest, SteamVR, PSVR 2, and Pico, it boasts cross-platform multiplayer up to eight players, realistic physics, and themed 18-hole layouts with hidden balls and putters.

Base game price rose to $24.99 in May 2025 after folding six DLCs into the core offering, a move to combat DLC bloat while rewarding existing owners (Mighty Coconut). Earlier hikes bumped legacy DLC from $2.99 to $3.99 in 2023 and 2024. Despite robust engagement—4.8 million hours in 2023 alone—the indie model strains under rising costs (Mixed-News).

Reddit communities buzzed with concern: “If a developer like Mighty Coconuts is struggling… I’m nervous,” one user posted on r/PSVR, linking cuts to iOS efforts and DLC sales dips (Reddit r/PSVR).

Indie Resilience in a Contracting Sector

Mighty Coconut’s self-funded trajectory—100% from sales—highlights indie grit, but 2026 exposes vulnerabilities. “We feel confident that with these changes, Walkabout Mini Golf will be around for many, many courses to come,” Martell assured, signaling work on 2027 releases (UploadVR).

The studio posted LinkedIn contacts for laid-off talent, underscoring community ties amid upheaval. Features like flying, foxhunts, and custom avatars, absent at launch, evolved through player funding, with recent hits like Tiki à Coco and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland drawing acclaim.

Yet, sustaining 6-8 week releases taxes resources, especially post-2025 base expansions and merch like Grip-to-Putter controllers.

Wave of VR Studio Cutbacks

Mighty Coconut’s 25% slash mirrors a brutal start to 2026. Cloudhead Games axed 70%—over 37 staff—after platform funding evaporated, CEO Denny Unger lamenting an “impossible position” from industry downturns (Road to VR; UploadVR).

Meta’s Reality Labs shed 10% (1,500 jobs), shuttering Sanzaru Games, Twisted Pixel, Armature Studio, and hitting Camouflaj, while canceling Harry Potter VR and Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel (UploadVR). CTO Andrew Bosworth admitted “VR is growing less quickly than we hoped,” pivoting to AI glasses.

Palmer Luckey called closures “a good thing for the long-term health,” arguing Meta’s blockbusters crowded indies; flops like Rock Band VR (700 copies) proved the point (UploadVR).

Meta’s Pivot Hits Partners Hard

UploadVR tied Mighty Coconut’s recalibration to “Meta’s shifting platform ambitions,” noting Quest+ changes dented supplemental revenue (UploadVR). Cloudhead’s cuts followed yanked funding for an exclusive.

Other VR outfits like VRChat, nDreams, Cyan, Fast Travel Games, Soul Assembly, and XR Games restructured recently. No new headset holiday boost exacerbated woes, with sales up modestly but insufficient.

“The state of the industry leaves no room for error,” developer North Cook observed (UploadVR).

Path Forward for Walkabout

Martell emphasized VR focus: “Keeping a completely unique mobile version… slows down production much more than we had anticipated” (Road to VR). Crossplay lingers temporarily, with advance notice for end.

Communities like r/WalkaboutMiniGolf praise the model’s value, though price sensitivity looms. Mighty Coconut eyes quality-of-life upgrades and surprises, backed by a pipeline into 2027.

In a sector reeling from overinvestment and sluggish adoption, Walkabout endures as a player-funded outlier, betting DLC loyalty weathers the storm.