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Sonos will lay off 12 percent of its workforce due to COVID-19
Sonos plans to eliminate 12 percent of its global headcount due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Turbine suffers another round of layoffs
Gamasutra and Twitter are reporting that an unspecified number of Turbine employees have been fired today in a new round of layoffs. A Warner Bros. representative responded with an official statement: "As part of our normal business process, we're routinely looking at the strategic alignment of our company. Unfortunately, in order for us to invest in growth areas at Turbine, we have to eliminate some positions. These are always tough decisions, which we don't approach lightly, but it's crucial that Turbine is structured in a way that reflects the current and coming marketplace." Massively has reached out to Turbine for additional comments.
Ambrosia Software employees report layoffs, but company says it's still in business (updated)
Tweets posted in the past couple hours from Ambrosia Software employees reveal that a number of its developers have been laid off. "End of an era, so long and thanks for all the fish, ambrosia. On to the next adventure," Rudy Richter, a software developer for Ambrosia, tweeted. Subsequent tweets from Richter state that his co-workers also are looking for work. Jeremy Knope, also a developer for Ambrosia, tweeted he was looking for work as well "So long @AmbrosiaSW," Jon Gary, another developer, tweeted. "Onward and upward." Ambrosia is the maker of Snapz Pro X iToner, WireTap Studio and more. It produces software for OS X and iOS. Incorporated in August 1993, it became known in the Mac community for Asteroids-remake Maelstrom. We have an email out to Ambrosia president Andrew Welch asking for official confirmation, and will update this post once we hear back. Update (11:35 p.m. ET): A tweet from Ambrosia's official Twitter states "that the company is still in business. "To paraphrase Mr Clemens, the rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated. We are still in business, and supporting our products!" However, another tweet from Richter, this one to smartwatch-maker Pebble, says that his employer has closed up shop. With different reports emerging, we hope that things are going OK for everyone at Ambrosia. Update #2 (4/11, 6 p.m. ET): Ambrosia President Andrew Welch acknowledged the layoffs and said the company is scaling back operations. "We are still in business, and will continue to be for years to come. We have a large product line that we will continue to support," Welch said.
Activision lays off 30 people, expects fewer licensed games in 2013
Activision laid off 30 full-time employees, noting that this year it intended to launch fewer games based on licensed properties. Activision provided a statement to Joystiq:"In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate," the publisher said. "Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally, which represents approximately one half of one percent of Activision Blizzard's employee population."Activision's lineup of licensed games in 2013 included The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Deadpool and the first three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, and there was something up with the James Bond games.A portion of the 30 layoffs came from Call of Duty developer Treyarch, though Activision said it was a "minimal reduction" that wouldn't affect the launch of any DLC for Black Ops 2.
THQ lays off 30 Play THQ employees
The business world, like the rest of the world, is a cruel and unforgiving mistress. Following the "weaker than expected" sales figures achieved by THQ's uDraw tablet during the third quarter of the 2012 fiscal year, THQ has let go 30 members of its Play THQ team; the Agoura Hills unit responsible for uDraw. "We are taking a difficult but important step to reduce the number of employees that supported this brand," a THQ representative said in a statement to Game Informer. "30 people will be leaving the company and business unit leader Martin Good will also be leaving to pursue new opportunities outside the company." THQ is still hopeful that the success of Saints Row: The Third and WWE '12 will pull out a fourth quarter turnaround before the end of fiscal 2012.
SOE suffers cutbacks as 35 employees are laid off
Four percent doesn't sound like a lot, but when it comes to Sony Online Entertainment, it represents nearly three dozen employees who no longer have a job. G4 reports that the company has let 35 people go from its full-time workforce in an effort to "better align the company's resources against areas of growth that meet consumer demand in today's online market as well as improve operational efficiency." The company is being tight-lipped as to the specifics of the cuts, including who was let go and from which development teams. This may come as a surprise to some, especially when you consider that SOE is riding high off of its Free Realms mega-success and is poised to launch several new titles including The Agency, DC Universe Online and Clone Wars Adventures. Hopefully we'll hear more details soon, but in the meantime you can read the full announcement over at G4.
Ragnarok Online cares and wants to give you free play time for being laid off
Now that's some title, isn't it? Yet, the title doesn't lie -- Gravity Interactive does care and they do want to give their subscribers who have been laid off some free play time.If you were a subscriber on Ragnarok Online International as of June 1st and you've lost your job on or after June 1st, then you're eligible for the new "Gravity Cares" program. All you need to do is simply fill out a short form to prove that you've lost your job and then send it over to Gravity via regular mail. Once they approve the form, you'll get a free three month subscription to Ragnarok Online so you can keep playing without having to worry so much about paying while you get back on your feet.The program is certainly a nice gesture to those who have been hit by the troubled economy, and a unique offering in the MMO world. If you're eligible, go take advantage of it so you can keep playing with your friends.
i-mate CEO says company isn't dead yet, just dealing with 'major fraud'
Well, it looks like the reports of i-mate's demise may have been slightly exaggerated. Of course, most of its employees are still laid off, its offices are still closed, and no one's answering the phones, but i-mate CEO Jim Morrison assures us that "everything about i-mate will continue." It turns out the company is just dealing with some "major fraud" that was discovered at the end of August as it was beginning to introduce a new line of devices, which led to some problems with little things like "paying employees." Those employees are also now said to be considering taking things up with the local authorities in Dubai, which Morrison admits would make things "difficult," although he insists that the company still has those new products ready to go, that it's "looking for more funding," and that "there is a lot of good stuff happening."[Thanks, Brendan]
O2 gives sneaky staff the boot for selling iPhones on eBay
The UK's O2 has apparently given six employees the boot and are investigating another 20 after it came to light they were using their 20 percent staff discount to buy iPhones and sell them on eBay. While no exact number was given, apparently they bought "noticeable quantities" of everybody's favorite -- and now discontinued -- set, to help pad their retirement fund. Of course, with handset sales likely stagnating while everybody waits on the iPhone 3G, you'd think O2 might have given them a break for clearing out all that old stock.[Via RCRNews]
Former Auran producer defends staff, management
The entire Auran staff may have been let go earlier this week, but former Producer David Gillespie has a post up on his personal blog that defends Auran's staff, and the decisions made by management. This is the "Game flopped and the entire team was laid off, but the staff were the best!" law -- a far too frequent occurrence in the gaming industry. This law works in opposites, too. Sid Meier eats babies.David Gillespie left Auran long before it went into administration, but he obviously had a lot of respect for everyone there. I didn't know Auran were the same developers responsible for 90's RTS classic Dark Reign, though. And there's an industry lesson to learn from this -- no matter how talented your team, how great your working environment, how successful your studio has been up till now -- if you make a commercial MMO that's a failure, you're in a whole world of trouble.Maybe now that Fury is free, I should download it just to see what it was really like-- but on second thoughts, I think I'll pass for now.[Via warcry.com]
Auran goes into voluntary administration, entire staff let go
Sad news for the Australian games industry. GameSpot has the scoop on Auran, the Aussie developers of Fury, going into voluntary administration (meaning an independent and qualified party will take complete control of the company to attempt to resolve financial difficulties in the best manner possible). From here, subject to a meeting with the company's creditors, they will either be restructured or liquidated. But one thing is a certainty: all staff members, nearly 70 employees, have been laid off.
