Studio Relic laid off more than 100 employees

In a studio Relic Entertainment there was a gloomy atmosphere. The team must say goodbye 121 members. Layoffs are the result restructuring studyso he can focus on core franchises, including the Company of Heroes 3 series.

Nearly half of the employees have lost their jobs. According to available information, just a few months ago, Relic should have had more than 300 employees. Meanwhile, fans assure that the development Company of Heroes 3 is still going on. The latest real-time strategy game only came out on PC in February and will release on May 30 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Sega mentions in a statement external factorsthat influence the video game industry more than ever. He calls the restructuring a difficult decision, but the publisher remains fully committed to supporting and investing in Relic and their brands, including Company of Heroes.

“We are confident that with this necessary restructuring, the studio will be able to continue delivering outstanding experiences to gamers around the world.” Sega said. Dismissed employees will receive severance pay and will be able to rely on services to transfer to another job.

Relic General Manager Justin Dowdeswell and COO Heidi Eaves were more outspoken. In an email sent to employees, they reported that last year was incredibly difficult for the studio.

“The combination of significant project delays, rapidly rising costs, high inflation and exchange rate fluctuations have combined to have a negative impact on our business. As a result, the bar for success for a studio of our size has increased, and this has increased the pressure on our games to succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

“All these factors together with Sega led us to the decision to significantly reduce the size of our studio and refocus our efforts. We will continue to support our core games, including Company of Heroes 3, and our future projects to ensure their success. We believe that making this very difficult decision now will help ensure a strong future for our studio and our business.”

In 2021, Canadian studio Relic collaborated with Xbox Game Studios to create a real-time strategy game. Age of Empires IV for PC, worked on a real-time strategy game in 2017 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III as well as a third-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines since 2011. Sega acquired Relic in an auction of bankrupt THQ’s assets in 2016 for $26.6 million. ZeniMax offered $300,000 less.

Recall that Sega recently bought Angry Birds Rovio for $776 million.