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Discord lays off 170 workers in latest round of cuts
Discord have decided to cut its staff by 17 percent, according to an internal memo.
ByteDance's latest layoffs have reportedly gutted the publisher of Marvel Snap
TikTok's parent company ByteDance is apparently winding down its gaming business, including the Nuverse brand.
Amazon is laying off several hundred employees working on Alexa
The company has so far laid off more than 27,000 employees since last year.
Amazon's expanded job cuts will affect over 18,000 employees
Majority of the employees losing their jobs would come from Amazon's retail and recruiting divisions.
Twitter sued by employees amid mass layoffs
Twitter is facing a lawsuit over its ongoing mass layoffs today. The plaintiffs argue that the company is violating the US WARN Act by not giving employees enough notice.
Microsoft lays off hundreds of employees (updated)
Microsoft is the latest big player in tech to lay off workers.
Intel will reportedly lay off thousands of employees as PC sales slow
Some divisions will lose up 20 percent of their staff, according to 'Bloomberg.'
SoundCloud is laying off up to 20 percent of its workforce
Based on the company's LinkedIn profile, around 340 people will lose their jobs.
TikTok is cutting jobs around the world
It's reportedly going through a global restructuring.
Robinhood lays off nine percent of its full-time employees
Tenev explained that Robinhood's rapid growth in headcount led to "some duplicate roles and job functions."
OnePlus downsizes European teams to focus on key markets
Engadget reached out to OnePlus regarding the latest layoffs, and a spokesperson referred those as part of a “normal restructuring” in Europe in order to focus on key markets. Before this announcement, OnePlus had around 2,000 employees worldwide.
Microsoft plans 7,800 layoffs, $7.6 billion Nokia write-down
After cutting its workforce by around 18,000 over the past year, Microsoft is readying another round of heavy layoffs. The company will cut 7,800 jobs over "the next several months." Many of the dismissals will come from Microsoft's phone business, which joined the company's newly formed "Windows and Devices Group" in June. As part of the merger announcement, Microsoft also revealed it would say goodbye to the last two major Nokia executives still at the company, Stephen Elop and Jo Harlow, in the near future.
Frontier lays off 15 employees
Frontier Developments has axed 15 positions from its Halifax studio somewhat unexpectedly, leaving this branch of the overall studio with a somewhat hazy future. According to investor reports, the move is the result of a refocusing of the company's business plan around its two major games, and with all of the expertise on Elite: Dangerous and the upcoming Coaster Park Tycoon concentrated in Cambridge, it simply made more sense to reduce staff in the satellite studio. No word on what this means for the long-term health of the Halifax location, which may very well be facing the axe as well. Our deep consolation goes to all employees affected by the layoffs.
Layoffs are probably in store for Transformers Universe
A staff reduction will be hitting Jagex's Transformers Universe team, and not for the first time. The studio has confirmed that it is in the process of examining duties and roles within the development team, with some team members facing reassignment to elsewhere in the company and others seen as redundant. No actual layoffs have taken place at this time, although "soon" is the watchword. The announcement does mention that there are opportunities in an as-yet-unannounced project currently in development behind the scenes at Jagex. Transformers Universe went into open beta in July and has a variety of founder's packs currently available to purchase; an official launch date has not been announced. Our condolences to all those affected by the upcoming layoffs.
TUG cuts its staff in half to keep moving forward
There are certain announcements that never inspire confidence, like saying that you've had to remove half of the team working on a project. That's the announcement that TUG's developers recently dropped on the community. An investor that the team had been counting on provided terms that would have meant losing control of the project, so Nerd Kingdom chose to decline the funding. This might have been a great choice from a moral stance perspective, but it also meant that the team had to be pruned to keep the project financially viable. For fans, the immediate downside is that the game will be running a bit later with its Kickstarter rollouts than previously scheduled. The game is still humming along in development, though, and this reduction should be enough to keep the lights on. You can read the full update on the Kickstarter page, which also details a few potential unnamed spots of hope on the horizon.
Microsoft to shutter Xbox Entertainment Studios [update]
Following the 18,000 layoffs Microsoft announced this morning, the tech giant has also confirmed reports that it will be closing its Xbox Entertainment Studios division within the next few months. Though the closure of Xbox Entertainment Studios will drastically reduce Microsoft's plans for original Xbox programming, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer claims that a few key projects will live on. "Xbox will continue to support and deliver interactive sports content like 'NFL on Xbox,' and we will continue to enhance our entertainment offering on console by innovating the TV experience through the monthly console updates," Spencer wrote in a statement to Recode. According to Variety, it also appears likely that the Ridley Scott-produced Halo prequel Halo: Nightfall will survive the death of Xbox Entertainment Studios, both because it's quite a ways into development already and because Microsoft is currently in negotiations with Showtime to broadcast the series on premium cable alongside its Xbox debut. Update: Microsoft has contacted us to confirm that Halo: Nightfall will continue production. You'll find the official statement below.
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.
Mark Kern removed as CEO of Red 5 Studios [Updated]
According to a recent report from Gamefront, Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern has been terminated by the company's board of directors, effective immediately. Vice President of Development James Macauly has apparently sent an email to all employees informing them of the change in leadership, with this latest dismissal coming in the wake of several previous layoffs at the Firefall studio. No official statement has been issued to the public by the company at this time. An anonymous source within the company has also spoken out against Kern in The Escapist, claiming that the CEO was frequently absent and arrived sporadically to hand down arbitrary decisions. How true these statements are cannot be confirmed, although the company does hold a low rating for employee satisfaction overall. We'll have more on the situation if and when a statement is issued regarding Kern's continued employment or lack thereof. [Update: Red 5 Producer Matt DeWald has issued a formal statement on the now-confirmed rumors: "As of Thursday, December 19th, Mark Kern is no longer the Chief Executive Officer of Red 5 Studios. Mark founded Red 5 Studios in 2006 to provide exceptional game entertainment along with a world-class team of developers working on the MMO Shooter, Firefall. Red 5 Vice President of Development, James Macauley, will be moving into the role of acting CEO. The team at Red 5 continues work on Firefall and looks forward to all that we have to offer in 2014."]
Harmonix lets go a 'small number' of employees
Harmonix has laid off a handful of employees today, a spokesperson tells Joystiq: "We can confirm that a small number of Harmonix employees were let go today. This decision was made due to shifting staffing priorities for Harmonix's multiple future projects." One of those let go was Dan Crislip, a sound designer on Rock Band. Harmonix saw a similar round of purging in April, complete with the same spokesperson quote. The studio is currently working on Fantasia: Music Evolved.
Firefall's Red 5 Studios lays off 10% of staff in 'pre-launch reorganization'
The Twitterscape is abuzz tonight about fresh layoffs at Firefall's Red 5 Studios as current and former Red 5 employees have announced that they're now on the market. A formal statement from the company calls the layoffs a "reorganization": Red 5 Studios announced today that the studio is being reorganized prior to the launch of Firefall. "As Firefall matures, we must transition our priorities and our development strategy to focus on streamlined operations and live product support," said Mark Kern, CEO and founder of Red 5 Studios. As part of the reorganization, Red 5 Studios confirms that it has released about 10 percent of its staff, the majority from Red 5's video internet entertainment channel, Stage 5 TV. Development of Firefall is unaffected by the reorganization and Open Beta Stage 2 is well underway with a major patch scheduled for later this month. Last week, Red 5 shocked players by announcing it was temporarily disabling and retooling Firefall's PvP mode, on which it had based its e-sports platform; apparently, only 3% of the beta playerbase participated in it. [Source: Red 5 press release]
