It's been a pretty depressing year for the games industry, with more layoffs and cutbacks than anyone can remotely justify, as corporate bigwigs still take home huge compensation packages, or waltz into golden parachutes. As much as they can, developers are trying to fight back against this tide of misery, but it's a tough task, as the developers at not quite Disco Elysium sucessor studio Summer Eternal know all too well.
]]>Visions of Mana only released yesterday, August 29, but according to a new report, plans to cut back at and eventually close the JRPG’s developer - Ouka Studios - have been in the works for a good while, with the current situation being that NetEase has cut "all but a handful of jobs".
]]>I love video games. It's fair to say that I am obsessed with them. From an early age I was drawn to what they offered, their ability to push forward technology, to wow, to entertain, to make me excited like nothing else. As a child I used to read maybe 10 video game magazines a month (maybe more if I wasn't shooed out of my local WHSmiths that I was using like a library). I took joy in telling my friends about video games, and I knew I wanted to turn that into my career. And I did. There have been ups and downs, for sure, but I'm still here, 20 years later, still obsessed.
]]>This week's news of Microsoft shutting down several studios - including Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin - has left an especially sour taste in the mouth of pretty much everybody. It's the latest entry into the acquisition fallout saga - which seems to be one of the biggest hits in the video game industry right now. Activision Blizzard's post-acquisition cuts, Embracer group ruthlessly gutting studios it's bought. It begs the question - why would CEOs even want to sell their studios to one of these massive companies right now?
]]>You know Embracer Group? That company that’s rather gotten a bad rap for selling off studios and laying lots of people off over the past year or so? Well, according to Saber Interactive founder Matthew Karch, we’ve all got the publisher wrong. It’s, er, not evil.
]]>Deviation Games, a AAA developer backed by PlayStation, has been shut down before it was able to ship its first game.
]]>Electronic Arts announced overnight plans to lay off 5% of its workforce, close a studio, sunset a selection of mobile games, and cancel a first-person shooter based in the Star Wars universe.
]]>PlayStation has announced plans to lay off 900 people from its global workforce, as part of a reduction of the company's overall headcount by 8%. Several PlayStation-owned studios - including Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, and Guerilla Games - will be affected, with PlayStation Studios' London Studio set to be closed entirely.
]]>Supermassive Games, the developer of horror hits Until Dawn and The Quarry, is reportedly planning to lay off 90 workers, with 150 having been informed that they’re at risk of redundancy.
]]>Microsoft is reportedly laying off 1,900 staff from its gaming division. If true, this would mark 5,800 reported layoffs in the video game industry in January alone.
]]>Embracer Group has issued another round of layoffs across its studios, and this time, redundancies have hit 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks.
]]>Sega of America has been accused of union busting and had an unfair labour practice complaint lodged against it by workers. The employees claim that the company forced them into a meeting to inform them that their jobs were being outsourced, rather than negotiating with their union.
]]>Digital Bros, the company behind 505 games - which has published the likes of Control and Assetto Corsa - has announced that it expects to cut 30% of its global workforce.
]]>Telltale Games is the latest development studio to implement a round of staff layoffs.
]]>Team 17 has responded to our request for comment with the following statement:
]]>Activision Blizzard has quietly laid off several staff from its Hearthstone team, in what the company has called "organizational changes". This has left former staff - one of which was close to 20 years at the company - looking for work.
]]>Volition, the developers of Red Faction and Saints Row, has been shuttered after 30 years by its parent company, Embracer Group, as part of companywide restructuring.
]]>EA has laid off roughly 6% of its total staff, the latest in a series of industry-wide cuts as both gaming and tech as a whole show signs of struggling.
]]>Microsoft and Riot Games are facing substantial layoffs, according to recent reports from various sources.
]]>London-based developer is looking at what it needs in the current games landscape.
]]>Daybreak Games is still working on Planetside 3, and last month's Arena spin-off is how it plans to get there.
]]>Another round of layoffs has hit H1Z1 and Planetside 2 developer Daybreak Studios.
]]>On the final day of E3, Amazon Game Studios laid off dozens of its employees and canceled multiple unannounced games.
]]>It appears Telltale Games has laid-off the remainder of its staff, according to reports.
]]>A former Telltale Games employee has filed a class-action lawsuit, claiming the surprise layoff violates California labor laws.
]]>Evolution Studios, known for its work on Driveclub and Onrush, has been hit with layoffs.
]]>Volition may have lost up to 30 team members following the poor reception to Agents of Mayhem.
]]>A round of layoffs has hit Activision studios.
]]>Rovio Entertainment has announced another round of layoffs bringing the total number to 370 within a year.
]]>Sources close to UK-studio Codemasters have said at least 30 positions are to be cut as the developer reviews various positions within the company.
]]>NCSoft has announced a round of staff cuts across its western operations, with WildStar developer Carbine Studios bearing the brunt of the lay-offs.
]]>Sucker Punch, known for the Infamous and Sly Cooper franchises, has had a round of layoffs, Sony has confirmed.
]]>Future, the publisher behind outlets such as Edge, GamesRadar, PC Gamer, and CVG, is going through some hard times. It will be shutting down some of its gaming websites and laying off a large number of staff.
]]>Today, Harmonix announced that it was laying off 37 of its staff and replacing its CEO.
]]>Molten Games, a studio founded last year by former Blizzard and Relic staffers, has reportedly suffered a catastrophic downturn.
]]>Murdered: Soul Suspect studio Airtight Games has let 14 employees go as part of "necessary restructuring," the firm's president Jim Deal has confirmed.
]]>Disney Interactive has confirmed that a swathe of lay-offs and a company refocus will have no impact on Disney Infinity or Harmonix's Fantasia: Music Evolved.
]]>Sony Computer Entertainment America has confirmed a round of lay-offs at its Santa Monica Studio.
]]>Disney Infinity will soon to leverage some of the House of Mouse's most popular acquired properties, but the sandbox title's success hasn't prevented an upcoming mass lay-off, according to financial sector rumours.
]]>Rock Band, Dance Central and Fantasia: Music Evolved developer Harmonix has issues an unannounced but small number of lay-offs.
]]>Following on from announcements last year, Sega of America has reduced its workforce with an unspecified number of lay-offs.
]]>EverQuest, Planetside 2 and DC Universe Online publisher Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed a round of lay-offs, although the number of affected employees has been kept under wraps.
]]>International mobile and social publisher Gree has closed its UK development and business teams, issuing a statement casting serious doubt on the Amsterdam office's future.
]]>A source close to Game Informer, and a number of various tweets, have confirmed another round of lay-offs at EA. Those cut worked at the company's internal analysis and reviews team. The team was responsible for studying Metacritic trends and providing "critical response before titles get in the hands of journalists," according to GI. It's unknown how many people were let go but according to Polygon the number was less than 20 employees.
]]>IO Interactive has announced today that it has laid off nearly half of its current workforce as part of a refocus on the Hitman series.
]]>Massive lay offs have hit social game studio Zynga, with AllThings D reporting that the studio is closing down its Los Angeles, New York, Austin and Dallas studios; it'll also lay off more than 520 of its employees.
]]>EA has put the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series on hold as a cost-saving measure, according to anonymous sources.
]]>Following rumours of the closure of the entire EA Partners label, EA has made a very vague statement confirming lay-offs and restructuring.
]]>Bioshock 2 lead designer Zak McClendon has jumped ship for Harmonix as Design Director, according to his online CV. The Rock Band studio appears to be gearing up towards something massive, if recent rumours are to be believed.
]]>Although EA still isn't keen to comment, it has made layoffs at at least one and probably two studios, with talk of a wider restructuring across its mobile and social divisions.
]]>Electronic Arts has laid-off some of its employees at EA Mobile Montreal, and while the firm has commented on the matter, it had refused to provide the specific number of those affected.
]]>Dragon Age: Legends developer BioWare San Francisco has been closed, with all jobs lost, according to reports citing anonymous sources.
]]>Aliens: Colonial Marines co-developer Timegate Studios has laid off an unspecified number of staff.
]]>Game rental service and digital distributor GameFly issued a round of lay-offs earlier today. The company explained the cuts as a result of restructuring, but did not give details. Joystiq cites one anonymous source for word that cuts were around one third of total staff, while another put the figure at 35.
]]>Zynga has closed its Baltimore studio and shuffled staff around in New York and Texas, resulting in "minimal" job cuts.
]]>EA announced today that they've initiated a round of layoffs at a few of their studios.
]]>Activision has confirmed a round of lay-offs, resulting in 30 staffers being made redundant from the firm's licensed games division.
]]>Citing unnamed sources, the LA Times is reporting that Disney has laid off a further 50 staff from various locations in addition to the Junction Point closure today. We haven't heard anything official yet, but expect details in Disney's next financial report on February 5.
]]>Square Enix has confirmed it has made lay-offs at its Los Angeles offices.
]]>Tactical social effort Ghost Recon: Commander has been axed, with developer Loot Drop laying off its the entire team as a result.
]]>Starhawk developer Lightbox Interactive has confirmed significant lay-offs and an abrupt shift in focus.
]]>A former member of SCE America's PR staff has said the company is dooming its own products, and that the PlayStation brand is being "hamstrung" by other divisions of Sony.
]]>PopCap's lay-offs are part of the studio's integration with EA, according to EA Labels boss Frank Gibeau, and also part of the publisher's new focus on mobile gaming.
]]>A now former employee at Tera publisher En Masse Entertainment has tweeted that the folks behind MMO Tera have laid off an unknown number of staff members.
]]>Two titles have been shelved, including Microsoft Flight, but Microsoft has not closed its Vancouver studio.
]]>Silicon Knights boss Dennis Dyack has shot down yesterday's whispers of the developer's dependence on a disgruntled Nintendo.
]]>Slant Six Games has laid off a quarter of its total work force, although the developer hopes to re-hire the affected staffers.
]]>Despite lay-offs at BioWare Austin, Star Wars: The Old Republic is still fielding a significant development team.
]]>The financially troubled 38 Studios has issued a round of lay-offs, presumably a cost cutting measure in order to meet the developer's debts to the state of Rhode Island.
]]>Army of Two and Skate It developer EA Montreal will let some staff go as part of "routine changes".
]]>The 10,000 job cuts Sony plans to make by the end of 2012 are not expected to affect its gaming division.
]]>After denying rumours of mass lay-offs yesterday, EA has said it will likely have more employees than ever by the end of 2012.
]]>EA has denied it's preparing for a massive rearrangement of staff, with as many as 1,000 jobs reported to be on the chopping block.
]]>New CEO Kazuo Hirai has revealed Sony's strategic plans to dig back out of several successive loss years, focussing on core businesses and making significant cuts.
]]>Ahead of new CEO Kazuo Hirai's first major strategy meeting, Sony is believed to be making extensive layoffs.
]]>It's always sad to see our fellow members of the press leave their respective outlets, and today is no exception.
]]>Obsidian is reportedly being hit with a round of lay-offs due to the cancellation of a "future next-gen project" and more lay-offs on the "existing South Park team" according to Joystiq.
]]>EA has confirmed a "small" round of layoffs in its Vancouver offices due to the location undergoing a "transformation" of EA Canada and Black Box studios' home.
]]>Future US staff have been culled in a wave of lay-offs, while IGN has scrapped two entire sites.
]]>THQ has announced a round of lay-off today, affecting its administrative and publishing departments. The firm didn't provide information pertaining to how many employees were let go, but said the job losses occurred outside of its five internal studios: THQ San Diego, THQ Montreal, Relic, Volition, and Vigil. THQ announced earlier this week it was exiting the kids' licensed games category, to focus on its core game franchises and digital initiatives. Thanks, Joystiq.
]]>Bethesda has confirmed a round of lay-offs have occurred at id Software, after a tweet and NeoGAF post on the matter surfaced. Speaking with Joystiq, the firm said the lay-offs occurred through "standard business practice" as id Software "regularly evaluates staffing to ensure it has a workforce that meets the needs of the studio." That being said, the official statement on the matter also noted id was "still recruiting and hiring qualified developers" as work on future titles at the studio "continues unabated." [pic]
]]>Troubled Canadian developer Silicon Knights is said to have been hit by "massive layoffs".
]]>Up to 20 staff have been made redundant at Disney's Utah studio, where Cars 2 was developed.
]]>As part of a "strategic realignment", THQ has announced it will close two entire studios and let go one further dev team, as well as closing down the MX vs. ATV franchise.
]]>Dramatic staff cuts at Wii port developer Red Fly may have resulted from the cancelation of an unannounced Star Wars game.
]]>The creators of the Zoo Tycoon franchise have announced today that they've been hit with layoffs, and inside sources claim the layoffs are even worse.
]]>Disney Interactive has confirmed to VG247 that it has laid off an unspecified number of employees at Black Rock.
]]>According to various tweets from Obsidian employees, it looks as though the firm has been hit with layoffs.
]]>Disney Interactive is reported to have cut a further 80 jobs as part of its ongoing restructure.
]]>Although Warren Spector has made some hopeful sequel noises, Disney doesn't appear amused by Epic Mickey's poor critical and commercial performance. Industry figures are talking about significant layoffs at the Junction Point studio.
]]>3D Realms bossman George Broussard has tweeted that 35 employees of Kane & Lynch devs IO Interactive have been laid-off.
]]>Ubisoft confirmed last night that 38 staff have been made redundant from Tom Clancy studio Red Storm Entertainment, as part of an effort to "focus on its core expertise" of "developing innovative multiplayer experiences."
]]>Some weeks, it seems like gaming news is pre-orchestrated to run on certain themes. This week's theme? Lay-offs, unfortunately.
]]>God of War: Chains of Olympus developer Ready at Dawn has confirmed it's had to lay-off some of staff.
]]>Triple-A game development downside #4567327: post-development lay offs. Designing a massive, "yee-haw"-inducing wild west from the ground-up and expanding it through bite-sized DLC chunks are two entirely different things, and, unfortunately, one of them requires far fewer people to pull off.
]]>Aliens vs. Predator? That's so last month. Now Disgruntled Ex-Employees vs. Rebellion is all the rage.
]]>Sega Europe has issued a statement on its restructuring plan, saying dropping 73 staff across both its London and San Francisco offices will allow it to focus on the "exciting" world of discless media.
]]>Computerworld.dk's reporting that's IO's dropped 35 staff.
]]>Looks like more than just Neversoft and Radical felt the sting of layoffs following a meeting with Activision yesterday.
According to reports, Luxoflux and Underground Development, the studio responsible for Guitar Hero: Van Halen and BMX XXX, were both closed completely.
]]>Take-Two has responded to reports this morning over lay-offs within the company, and turns out, it's happening at the corporate level only.
]]>
