Yet more industry layoffs have been announced, and this time, it's the turn of Marvel's Midnight Suns and Civilization VII developer Firaxis Games to let some of its staff members go.
Said layoffs were confirmed by Firaxis' parent company 2K to the folks at Game Developer. Of course, 2K describes the staff cuts as the studio "restructur[ing] and optimiz[ing] its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity".
Naturally, 2K stopped short of confirming just how many staff members were laid off, but Game Developer, citing "sources close to the situation", says that "dozens of people" have been let go in this layoff wave.
News of layoffs at Firaxis comes after Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick admitted last month that Civilization VII had gotten "off to a slow start" in terms of sales and reception. Despite that, however, Zelnick expressed faith in the game, suggesting it had high "lifetime value".
Civilization VIIÂ was released in February this year, and upon its debut, it was met with a mixed reception from players, who cited a poor user interface and significant gameplay changes compared to previous franchise installments as their reasons for leaving negative reviews.
Firaxis subsequently pledged to improve the game and to implement updates based on player feedback, but despite some significant patches arriving since Civilization VII's launch, it seems this wasn't enough to save these Firaxis employees from the chopping block.
These layoffs aren't even the first that 2K has put into effect this year. Last month, it was reported that BioShock studio Cloud Chamber had run into difficulties regarding the upcoming BioShock 4, with BioShock Infinite producer Rod Fergusson subsequently confirming his appointment at the studio (as well as layoffs).
In terms of what's next for Firaxis, the developer is currently working on supporting Civilization VII; as far as we know, there aren't any other major projects in the works at the studio right now. Stay tuned for more on this.
