Part of Take-Two’s “cost reduction program”
The widely admired studio behindXCOMand Civilization, Firaxis Games, have undergone a round of layoffs affecting around 30 employees, according to a report fromAxios. Publisher 2K Games later confirmed the news and said the job cuts were due to a “sharpening of focus, enhancements of efficiencies, and an alignment of our talent against our highest priorities."
2K Games also added that Firaxis “remains focused on developing critically acclaimed video games.” That likely includes the next entry in the Civilization series which wasrecently announcedto be in development at the studio, alongside the departure of long-time creative lead Jake Solomon who’splanningto move onto a different genre.
The strategy studio’s last release wasMarvel’s Midnight Sunswhich received a rave reception from critics - ourreviewcalled it “the best Marvel game yet” - but it struggled commercially, with the company’s CEOpinningthe underperformance on a crowded release window.
Despite that underperformance, parent company Take-Two still boasted about their “exponential growth in recent years” back in March, just as theylaid off an unspecified number of employeesat their publishing label Private Division - the arm responsible forOlliOlli WorldandThe Outer Worlds. At the time, the company said the reductions were necessary “to position the company for another extended period of success.”
Take-Two first hinted at company-wide layoffs in a third-quarter fiscal report where they planned a “cost reduction program expected to yield over $50 million of annual savings” after the company failed to meet revenue forecasts. The cuts at Firaxis are probably a part of that program.
The games and tech industry have seen a barrel of layoffs in recent months, including several job cuts atMicrosoft,Relic,EA,Twitch,Riot Games, and many more.
