Firaxis is latest video game studio hit by layoffs

Seems no one was really hyping Marvel's Midnight Suns. Even though the dev has a good rep for making quality games and it's Marvel, a very popular IP.

Sadly blablablaetcetcetc, nope.

Firaxis is latest video game studio hit by layoffs

Firaxis Games, the video game studio behind Civilization, has laid off about 30 developers, a source familiar with the studio tells Axios.

Driving the news: The layoffs happened yesterday, as studios are cutting roles across the industry.

What they're saying: The cuts were due to a “sharpening of focus, enhancements of efficiencies, and an alignment of our talent against our highest priorities," a rep for Firaxis publisher 2K Games told Axios.

• "The studio remains focused on developing critically acclaimed video games," they also said.

Between the lines: Firaxis' most recent game, December's tactical super-hero combat adventure Marvel's Midnight Suns, reviewed well but sold poorly.

• The CEO of Firaxis' parent company Take Two Interactive, had pinned the weak sales on poor release timing.
• In February, Take Two said it was initiating a $50 million "cost reduction program" that would include some layoffs. (Take Two purchased mobile game maker Zynga last year for nearly $13 billion.)
• That same month, 2K announced that Midnight Suns creative director Jake Solomon and longtime Firaxis boss Steve Martin were exiting the company, with Heather Hazen promoted into the leadership spot. The studio revealed it was working on a new Civilization game.

The big picture: Despite some slowdown in the past year, the video game industry is projected to grow in 2023 as it approaches $200 billion in worldwide revenue.

• But game companies have made personnel cuts big and small throughout the year, at times citing economic uncertainty or projecting a shift in development priorities.
• In May alone, Sony shut down its Pixelopus studio, CD Projekt RED cut around 30 roles at Molasses Flood and Sega's Relic studio laid off 121 workers.
• That's in addition to hundreds of roles cut at game studios and broader cuts in tech throughout 2023, according to a tally published by Kotaku.

Damn! That sucks. The layoffs are happening too often for an industry that is particularly small, I am not referring to revenue.

Darn, there goes any hopes of ever seeing Civilization Revolution 2... oh wait, they did make it, for iOS and Android, and PS Vita, damn. I have even less sympathy for them now, it's like they're trying to lose money. Well, they're succeeding if that's the case.

Was thinking about picking up Marvel's Midnight Suns.

When saw the currency bullshit, nah, I'm out.

Looks like SF6 got that bullshit as well.

Midnight Suns just seemed like a weird ass project. not sure how it got approved

hopefully they can bounce back.

tough month for legendary strategy game devs between them and Relic losing people

@uninspiredcup: I grabbed Midnight Suns on sale, enjoying ot so far, not too far in yet as juggling multiple games but I'm fine so far on presentation and gameplay, not the biggest Marvel buff so not sure if license faithfulness is an issue. I can definitely see though it is not a game for everyone wanting a more streamlined casual experience, especially with a big license like this with mass appeal like Marvel, and I would imagine a big license like this that publishers want to see larger returns on their investment. I kind of wished that a WH40K game took such an approach to gameplay design.

@lamprey263: From what read seems to be an evolution of Freedom Force. One of the great forgotten gems.

The game looks like it has good production values, but I did not bother with it due to it being turn based trash. Anyway, sucks that people got layed off.

Still pretty interested in getting Midnight Suns someday. There’s just so much stuff coming out these days.

Seems like the season for layoffs after some succesfull COVID years.

When are the CEO's and CFO's getting confronted with cutting the fat from the milk, as the question arrises why they really need that 30th villa at the beach and 56th personal aircraft carrier.

That's too bad, but not unexpected I suppose; Firaxis makes great games but I don't think Midnight Suns sold that well, and they don't really churn the games out as far as I can tell.

It really is interesting just how small the workforce is relative their profits.

I think a lot of "passion jobs" like this exploit their workers in that sense. That's how I feel about my various careers I've had.

I also read recently that developers--at least writers, artists, etc.--are not part of the writer's union for some reason? So even though they help make all this money in an industry that rivals TV and film, they either can't or are not part of the writer's union. Seems kind of lame.

True, true.

In its defense, it's one of the more exciting of the turn-based tactical games, with a certain element of randomness/chaos thrown in with deck-building.

I get where you're coming from, though. I personally love turn-based games (most, at least) but they can get a little tedious sometimes.

That's why I stopped playing. Not because it was bad, it just wasn't good enough to take me away from my main games at the time haha.

These are the guys who make X-com right?

I've played an X-com game before and had fun with it, so hopefully these people finds jobs asap.

The layoffs likely would've happened even if the game was a success, let's be honest.

Midnight Suns was surprisngly good. I was expecting it to be generic Marvel garbage, but it's actually a solid mix of XCOM and Slay the Spire with a Marvel veneer.

It's a good 8/10 game. Not a high priority compared to other recent games, but a pretty good way to kill 50+ hours.

Pffff. Unimpressive. Think of all those people impacted with their jobs!!

I do love turn based strategy games but being Marvel I would rather burn my money.