The Switch port specialist Virtuos – known within the Nintendo space for its work on games like The Outer Worlds – has officially laid off 270 employees across its studios worldwide.
This is “approximately 7%” of the company’s “global workforce”, with 200 roles in Asia and 70 roles in Europe axed, “primarily in teams facing lower occupancy and slower demand due to structural shifts” in the game industry.
The latest update follows the surprise release of Oblivion Remastered (which seemingly got off to a great start) on other platforms earlier this year, and the company specifically notes how these layoffs include “fewer than 10 in France”, where this core team is located.
In a blog on the Virtuos website titled “Adapting For The Future Of Game Development”, the company went into detail about how it intends to evolve and realign its structure to strengthen its “high-value co-development”:
“Virtuos is evolving to meet the changing needs of our partners and the industry. As game development grows increasingly complex, we are realigning our global footprint and capabilities to strengthen our offering in high-value co-development, ranging from full game engineering to advanced art, including creative content production and live services.”
“…Over the past 12 months, Virtuos has deepened its commitment to premium co-development through key acquisitions of Beyond-FX, Pipeworks, and Umanaïa in North America, as well as Third Kind Games and Abstraction in Europe. These studios enhance our strengths in VFX, design, Unreal Engine programming, and creative development. This ongoing investment reflects our intent to grow in areas where our expertise and scale create lasting value, while selectively exiting service segments where demand is weakening. We need to better match the locations of our teams with those of our clients to support the increasingly iterative nature of creative co-development. This alignment is why the current reorganization has a greater impact on our teams in Asia.”
Virtuos says it’s “grateful for the contributions of those impacted” and will be providing separation packages along with career transition assistance, and opportunities for “redeployment” within its global network where possible.
Additionally, it’s promised it remains “fully committed” to its partnerships, including its “ongoing work” on titles like Cyberpunk 2077. This news follows Microsoft laying off over 9,000 employees earlier this month, including staff under the Xbox division.
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