First Mad Catz, now Activision. After releasing their earnings report last week, Activision has confirmed to Game Informer that they are laying employees off. The catch is they didn’t confirm who or how many. The truth behind the layoffs has only really come to light thanks to social media and some quick eyes.
Guitar Hero Live developer Freestyle Games and Skylanders developer Vicarious Visions were both hit relatively hard after lower than expected sales. Activision Minneapolis was the hardest hit, and it seems the entire office will be shut down. These specific layoffs haven’t been confirmed, or denied, by Activision themselves but this may all be leading to a more official announcement.
It’s a shame to see prominent developers hit so hard, especially a studio like Freestyle who had previously helmed the DJ Hero games and gave significant life to Guitar Hero. Activision has been a bit more focused on mobile and esports lately and it’s quite possible this could also be a symptom of those larger moves.
Hopefully this is it for layoffs and everyone effected can land on their feet soon.
