Funcom are set to lay off several staff members, despite being fresh off the hugely successful launch of Dune: Awakening.
Within weeks of the survival MMO being released, the game became the fastest-selling game ever for Funcom, and quickly surpassed the milestone of 1,000,000 players within three weeks.
Funcom Says Transition to Live Service Means Layoffs
In a statement given to GamesIndustry, Funcom said that Dune: Awakening “has already shown incredible potential, and the right way forward is to focus our internal resources on releasing new content, features, and enhancements,” Funcom said in a statement provided to GamesIndustry.
“The transition from development to long-term live operation, while also building towards a major console release next year, will require us to restructure our teams and focus our resources from across projects and studios. Unfortunately, this also means having to say goodbye to cherished colleagues.”
Funcom Claims Employees Will be Supported
Funcom said the employees would be supported, but stated that it could not yet assess the impact. The developers also declined to say how many staff would be affected. Given the reasoning, they also did not state whether the layoffs had been planned.
“This difficult process is starting now, and we cannot yet determine the exact impact. We are working to find new opportunities for those affected.
“Our focus now is to provide these team members with the support and guidance they need, and we ask for your understanding at this time as we will not make further comments during this process.”
The move comes amid another swathe of layoffs in the industry, which is showing little sign of slowing. Firaxis, Dreamhaven and Crystal Dynamics are just three names to have announced layoffs in the last two months, with workers based in North America the worst affected, making up over 70% of all industry layoffs.
