Funcom layoffs confirmed as temporary [Updated]
Apparently having suffered a mediocre launch with The Secret World and a severe dip in its stock value, Funcom has announced temporary layoffs to its staff. The layoffs are part of a company-wide cost-cutting strategy in response to TSW's failure to hit expected sales scenarios, which Funcom predicted in a press release earlier this month. The layoffs appear to confirm parts of the anonymous tip we referenced in our Secret World column last Thursday.
Funcom Director of Communications Erling Ellingsen confirmed the layoffs to Gamer.no, stating that operations on Funcom's three MMOs will continue and that The Secret World's revenue model will continue as planned.
Unconfirmed reports put the layoffs at 50% to 60% of the studio's workforce. "We're in the middle of the process and we can not go into more detail now," Ellingsen said. On its Twitter feed, Funcom posted the following: "Thank you for your warm thoughts and support. More information to come soon."
[Update: Funcom has made a new statement to Massively in light of the layoffs, stressing that the layoffs are temporary. "As we announced in the stock notice that went out on August 10th, Funcom is in the process of reducing operational costs and this process includes temporary layoffs as well as other initiatives. As we are currently in the middle of this process we can not provide any further comment at the present time. Rest assured however that we have long-term plans for the company and that we remain fully committed to all of our games. We aim to provide more information soon."]
