Virtuos, the co-development team that is working with Konami to deliver Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, and the studio that just helped Bethesda develop The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has confirmed what was previously rumored, that the studio has suffered mass layoffs, with nearly 280 staff impacted, or 7% of the company.
Yesterday, French journalist Gauthier Andres was the first to report the layoffs, along with claims from sources they spoke to about internal troubles at Virtous. Today, Virtuos confirmed the cuts, which, according to Virtuos, are slightly under the 300 number that Andres first reported. Virtuos did not comment on any alleged internal issues, and in its statement claimed that its “immediate focus is on managing this transition with care, transparency, and respect.”
“Virtuos is evolving to meet the changing needs of our partners and the industry,” its statement began. “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.”
“This evolution involves a rebalancing of roles across our studios and geographies. Approximately 7% of Virtuos’ global workforce was affected, primarily in teams facing lower occupancy and slower demand due to structural shifts in the industry. This includes about 200 roles in Asia and 70 roles in Europe, including fewer than 10 in France, where the core team working on Oblivion Remastered is located.”
The statement goes on to explain why so many of the roles impacted are in its studios based in Asia, claiming the studio “need[s] to better match the locations of our teams with those of our clients to support the increasingly iterative nature of creative co-development.“
As far as the other projects Virtuos has on the go, the studio says it “remains fully committed to all our partnerships, including ongoing work on announced titles such as Oblivion Remastered, Cyberpunk 2077, and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.”
A key element of Andres’ report from yesterday was how the studio’s leadership is pushing to over-deliver in quality compared to the budget the studio is given. The Oblivion Remastered team was allegedly pushed to work harder despite Virtuos receiving no royalties on the game’s sales, so that the studio could have Oblivion Remastered as a showpiece for the kind of work they are capable of.
That’s the kind of strategy that can potentially lead to more contracts, but the only sure result a strategy like that can have is burning out the talent you’re trying to show the studio has.
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