Civilization studio Firaxis and Witcher maker CD Projekt Red have both confirmed a round of layoffs.
2Kstudio Firaxis reportedly laid off about 30 developers on Tuesday, while a similar number of employees will be cut byCD Projekt Redas it winds down support for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.
A 2K spokesperson toldAxiosthe Firaxis layoffs were due to a “sharpening of focus, enhancements of efficiencies, and an alignment of our talent against our highest priorities”.
In February, 2K andRockstarownerTake-Twosaid it was planning some layoffs as part ofa $50 million “cost reduction program”.
It was announced later that month thatJake Solomon, the director of Midnight Suns and the XCOM franchise, was leaving Firaxis after more than two decadesas part of a major studio shake-up.
Staff atPrivate Divisionand other Take-Two business units werereportedly laid off the following month.
CD Projektannounced last year that was planning towind down support for Gwent in 2023before transitioning the game into the hands of its players.
“But moments like this are always bittersweet,” the studiosaidin a recent update on Gwent’s website. “On one hand we get to see the game live on in the capable hands of the community, but on the other hand it means coming to terms that all good things do have to come to an end.
“For us, it means saying goodbye to not only the development of the game, but also to some of our team. As the transition to GWENTfinity gets closer, the resources and roles required behind the scenes are naturally declining.
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“Throughout the year we’ve been transferring some of the team members to other projects, but we have to part ways with some. Until the end of the year, about 30 remaining Gwent team members are going to part ways with CD Projekt Red.”
Earlier this month,CD Projekt laid off 29 employeesafter rescoping its Witcher spin-off game Project Sirius. The layoffs mostly impacted developers at The Molasses Flood, the American studio behind Flame in the Flood, which CD Projekt acquired in 2021.
