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Sega Europe announced the sale on Thursday Company of Heroes 3 and Age of Empires 4 Developer Relic Entertainment has cut around 240 jobs at several other Sega Europe studios.
Relic Entertainment has confirmed that it will become independent with the support of outside investors. We will continue to provide support under this new system. Company of Heroes 3 The next update will be in April. “This is a big change for us, but one thing remains the same: we want to provide a great experience for our players.” Read Company X Account Posts (Formerly Twitter). According to Sega’s financial disclosures, Sega’s Relic shares have been transferred to a holding company “to be established by British investment company Emona Capital.” Emona Capital is also an investor in game development services company Amber. In 2022, it invested $20 million in the company.
Sega Europe said in its final disclosure statement that it would lay off 240 people “with the aim of optimizing fixed costs.” According to GamesIndusty.biz, the affected studios include Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and Sega Hardlight. SEGA Europe is expected to record a loss of approximately $10 million (approximately 1.5 billion yen) in connection with the “business restructuring.” These layoffs follow Sega’s suspension of layoffs in 2023. hyena, a shooting game by Creative Assembly. Sega Europe confirmed in a statement Thursday that 250 people were laid off at the time.In the 7 months since then hyena” cancellation means approximately 500 people have been fired from Sega. This is in addition to his 121 layoffs at Relic Entertainment in May 2023.
Polygon has reached out to Sega Europe for comment.
SEGA Europe attributed the restructuring to a “reactionary decline in demand from people staying at home due to the coronavirus pandemic and an economic downturn due to inflation, which led to a decline in the company’s profitability.” Experts told Polygon earlier this year: was Record growth during the pandemic has created a “collective delusion” that the growth will continue forever. Instead, the industry is returning to incremental growth as executives ride on short-term profits over long-term sustainability. This, along with other changes in the video game business, are contributing to the period of instability currently straining the industry’s workforce. Industry trackers predict that the number of people laid off from the video game industry in 2024 will exceed 8,000. In 2023, more than 10,000 people will be laid off.
All of this is in contrast to the announcement made by Sega of America employees yesterday. The Allied Employees Union to Improve SEGA (AEGIS) voted Tuesday to ratify its first collective bargaining agreement with SEGA. The group of about 150 workers won higher bases for all employees, layoff protections and improved credit for game developers. Another big win for unions is just cause protection. California, where Sega of America is located, is an open employment state, meaning companies can fire employees for any reason as long as they don’t violate workplace protections against discrimination or other laws. Just cause protection requires employers to follow guidelines to prove they have “just cause” to fire an employee. Sega of America laid off dozens of employees earlier this year before a union contract was ratified, but Aegis was able to negotiate to save some jobs.
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