Relic Entertainment and Sega Europe have announced that effective immediately, layoffs have happened at the Company of Heroes developer, affecting 121 jobs.
The news comes via the developer on Twitter, who posted a message indicating the layoffs. Sega says it is restructuring the studio to focus on core franchises, including Company of Heroes 3, which launched this past February.
“At a time where external factors are impacting our industry more than ever, the difficult decision to restructure has been made to ensure that maximum focus can be placed on Relic’s core franchises,” Sega tells GamesIndustry.biz.
When THQ was dissolved in 2013, Sega purchased Relic for $26.6 million, narrowly beating out ZeniMax Media’s bid of $26.3 million. Since then, Relix has launched Age of Empires IV, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, and Company of Heroes 3.
“Sega is in a healthy financial position and remains fully committed to supporting and investing in Relic Entertainment and the franchises it is responsible for, including the critically acclaimed Company of Heroes series. We’re confident that following this necessary restructure, the studio will be in a position of strength to continue delivering outstanding experiences to players all over the world.
“Making decisions like this is incredibly difficult, and as a studio that treasures its people and is proud of the culture it’s grown, the focus is on supporting departing employees with career transition services and severance packages. We would like to offer our sincerest thanks to each of them for the part they’ve played in helping Relic Entertainment’s projects achieve global renown.”
Sega, which recently purchased Angry Birds maker Rovio for $776 million, didn’t elaborate on those “external factors,” but we’ll report back if we hear more (I doubt we will).
