A week after its sale by parent company Sega, Company of Heroes studio Relic Entertainment announced it would lay off employees.
“Earlier today, we shared details about the layoffs with Relicans,” the studio said on LinkedIn. “Laying off employees was not an easy decision and was made with the sole purpose of giving Relic the best possible opportunity to survive in an increasingly volatile industry. In no way does it reflect the expertise, passion, or character of our employees.'' Affected employees. ”
Relic said employees who are laid off are being given “severance pay, extended pay and outplacement options.” The number of people being laid off was not disclosed, but in a separate article, outside development producer Robin Smale put the number at 41.
The job cuts come less than a year after 121 Relic employees were laid off as part of a restructuring effort aimed at “giving maximum focus to our core business.” Overall, the two rounds of layoffs represent a significant reduction in Relic's staffing. The studio had just under 250 employees in 2019, with the goal of growing to about 330 over the next five years, according to a Daily Hive report. According to his LinkedIn page, Relic has between 201 and 500 employees.
“This isn't a cut of fat. This is a cut of the bone,” senior game producer Arion Billings, one of the employees laid off in the layoffs, said on LinkedIn. Ta.
This is a sad outcome for the 27-year-old studio that has given us games like Homeworld, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, Space Marines, and Company of Heroes. I didn't want to read too much into it, saying the cuts were necessary, but offering “the best possible chance to survive” does not inspire confidence in the long-term future. It's hard to imagine a storied studio like Relic simply closing its doors, but under these circumstances, and in the current industry climate, it no longer seems out of the question.
“To those we are saying goodbye to, we deeply apologize for this outcome,” Relic concluded. “Thank you for everything you do for our studio and projects and we wish you the best of luck.”