Developer Eurocom has become the latest studio to announce layoffs this year, with the company reducing its staff numbers from over 200 to 50.
Director Hugh Binns said in a statement to GI.biz:
Eurocom are undertaking a restructuring which I regret to say has meant we’ve made the majority of our workforce redundant today. This includes many very experienced, talented and highly skilled employees, and we’d like to thank them all for your hard work and efforts.
We’ve fought to try and save as many jobs as possible, but the steep decline in demand for console games, culminating in a number of console projects falling through in the last week, left us with no option. Eurocom has retained a core staff of just under 50 employees and will be focusing mainly on mobile opportunities moving forward.
What’s all the more troubling is that there are unconfirmed reports circulating that laid off staff won’t be paid their accrued salaries and notice pay.
While Eurocom blames the steep decline in console games, they’ve also suffered from the fact that their games were generally developed with incredibly short deadlines as licensed products, meaning that they were rarely received well by critics. Their latest title, 007 Legends, saw mixed reviews and disappointing sales.
PSLS wishes the best of luck to those now without a job. If you are one of them, and wish to share your side of the story, feel free to get in touch.
