Firaxis and CD Projekt Red are both laying off about 30 employees
Civilization and Witcher studios confirm staff cuts
Civilization studio Firaxis and Witcher maker CD Projekt Red have both confirmed a round of layoffs.
2K studio Firaxis reportedly laid off about 30 developers on Tuesday, while a similar number of employees will be cut by CD Projekt Red as it winds down support for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.
A 2K spokesperson told Axios the 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 and Rockstar owner Take-Two said it was planning some layoffs as part of a $50 million “cost reduction program”.
It was announced later that month that Jake Solomon, the director of Midnight Suns and the XCOM franchise, was leaving Firaxis after more than two decades as part of a major studio shake-up.
Staff at Private Division and other Take-Two business units were reportedly laid off the following month.
CD Projekt announced last year that was planning to wind down support for Gwent in 2023 before transitioning the game into the hands of its players.
“But moments like this are always bittersweet,” the studio said in 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 employees after 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.
