LayoffBlog.com

Fuel Games, developer of iPhone, PC, online, and console games, told Gamasutra that it is cutting staff and is in the midst of restructuring — right after a venture capital injection.

“Last Thursday about 20 people were laid off from the Ottawa office (out of around 100 people), and reportedly the entire staff was told they would not be receiving their paychecks on Friday,” said an ex-Fuel Games employee who wished to remain anonymous.

Source: Gamasutra

Swedish Bionic Commando and Terminator: Salvation developer GRIN has shed light on widespread media reports of trouble at the studio, announcing today that it must close down completely due to cash flow issues.

With titles including Ballistics, Bandits, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1 and 2 for PC, Bionic Commando Rearmed and Terminator: Salvation under its belt, the company has seen a considerable rise in the last few years.

Source: Gamasutra

According to GameSpy: “The economic axe keeps falling, with news today that Sega/Sammy Holdings intends to lay off 560 jobs and close 110 amusement facilities as part of its readjusted projected forecast for the year. GameDaily reports that voluntary redundancies will account for the 560 planned layoffs, which totals roughly one sixth of the overall workforce.”

According to Reuters: “THQ Inc (THQI) posted a quarterly loss as sales of video games fell more than expected, and the company warned results for the current quarter were likely to be “significantly” below what it had previously anticipated.”

The company plans to layoff 600 people (24% of workforce) in fiscal 2010 and cut spending by $220 million.

According to CNBC: “Electronic Arts, based in Redwood City, California, said it would cut 1,100 jobs, or about 11 percent of its workforce, higher than the 1,000 it announced in December. It also plans to close 12 facilities as it narrows its product portfolio.”

~News submitted by upthecreek

Redmond, Washington-based ACES Studio, the Microsoft-owned internal group behind the venerable Microsoft Flight Simulator series, has been heavily affected by Microsoft’s ongoing job cuts.

A large portion of the dev house’s staff has been let go - with multiple reports indicating that the entire Flight Simulator team has been axed.

Update: Microsoft has confirmed the closure of ACES Studio. Former ACES developer Phil Taylor claims in a blog post that six employees were retained to fulfill contractual duties, and Flight Simulator may continue to exist as a franchise in some other form.

Source: Gamasutra

According to Yahoo News, India: “The world’s top software firm Microsoft has been asked to cut its workforce by 10%, or about 9,100 employees, to tell the market that profits are more important than revenue growth in difficult times.”
“Earlier in October, Microsoft had put in place a hiring freeze on some of its divisions, such as entertainment and devices businesses that make products like X-Box and Zune.”

• The software giant had close to 91,000 employees on its payrolls at the end of July-September quarter.
• Microsoft is scheduled to release its second-quarter results for the fiscal year 2008-09 on January 22.
• Brokerage firm Oppenheimer and Co’s analyst Brad Reback has said in a report on Microsoft that such layoff exercise “would be a healthy move for the company.“

According to Forbes: “The video game maker will eliminate 1,000 jobs and close a development studio.”
“Due to weaker-than-expected sales of its titles during the holiday shopping season, EA is increasing its layoffs to 10.0% of its worldwide workforce, eliminating 1,000 jobs; this is an expansion on its plan to reduce headcount by 6%, first announced in October.”

Update: According to PaidContent.org: “EA is hoping to save about $120 million from the cuts, which will include the closing of at least nine studios.”

According to WSJ: “Videogame maker Midway Games Inc. said it will lay off 25% of its work force, close its Texas studio and suspend development of several games in order to cut costs.”

“Midway said Tuesday the work-force cuts, affecting 180 full-time positions, would be made at its Austin, Chicago and San Diego locations. The suspended projects, which had been scheduled for release in 2010 and 2011, haven’t yet been made public.  “

According to CNNMoney: “EA the electronics gaming company based in Redwood City, Calif., announced staff reductions Tuesday as it lowered earnings guidance for fiscal year 2009. The company’s stock plunged about 15% on the news.”

“The company is moving forward with plans, originally announced in its quarterly earnings report on Oct. 30, to reduce 6% of its workforce. The company had 9,000 full-time workers, including 5,100 outside the U.S., according to its annual report on March 31. Based on that, the company plans to cut some 450 jobs.”

Sanstechnstuff.com says: “Though LucasArts has yet to confirm this, multiple sources are indicating that the company has in fact laid-off approximately 50-100 of its employees, including their vice president of Production Development, Peter Hirschmann.”

Full story