Civilization VII developer Firaxis confirms layoffs

As part of a restructuring, 2K has announced that Firaxis, the developer of Civilization VII, is the latest studio to face layoffs.

The details:

• On Thursday, a number of former Firaxis employees shared that they had been let go from the studio, including producers, writers, QA, and artists. Publisher 2K has now confirmed the job cuts in a statement to Game Developer, but did not reveal how many employees were affected. "We can confirm there was a staff reduction today at Firaxis Games, as the studio restructures and optimizes its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity," said a 2K spokesperson.
• The cuts follow recent comments from Strauss Zelnick, CEO of 2K parent Take-Two, who discussed the less-than-ideal release of Civ 7. In an interview with IGN, the executive stated that, despite a "slow start" with fewer players than its predecessor and a poor reception, the game was still on track to meet the publisher's internal projections for its "lifetime value."
• Civ 7 received mixed reviews from fans of the long-running strategy series, with many criticizing its UI, missing features from previous games, changes to the age system, and a slew of bugs. Since launching earlier this year, Firaxis has continued to address the issues in recent updates, adding features like WASD movement and UI changes, though it is unclear how the layoffs will impact the frequency of future improvements.

More gaming news:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong's $20 price tag has sparked a discussion among indie developers about how it could impact the expectations of players in the future.
• A film adaptation of the Call of Duty franchise is currently in the works at Paramount.