Yet more layoffs are coming at 2K, this time affecting Civilization, XCOM, and Marvel's Midnight Suns developer Firaxis. Reports suggest that dozens of employees are affected, but while 2K has confirmed that the layoffs have occurred, the company hasn't detailed exactly how many jobs have been cut.
Instead, 2K tells Game Developer simply that there was "staff reduction today at Firaxis Games," an effort that "restructures and optimizes" the studio for "adaptability, collaboration, and creativity." That statement doesn't even have the usual veneer of warmth toward the affected employees, but I suspect everyone's a bit sick of hearing how difficult these decisions apparently are for the executives making them.
Game Developer's sources suggest that "dozens" of workers are impacted by the layoffs. The news comes just weeks after layoffs at BioShock 4 developer Cloud Chamber, which reportedly cost 80 developers their jobs.
Firaxis has loomed large for strategy game fans for decades as it brought the most beloved entries in the Civilization series to life throughout the '00s. More recent series entries have met with mixed receptions, but the studio's XCOM revival offers some of the finest strategy gaming you can get. In 2022, Marvel's Midnight Suns converted many skeptical tactics fans to become something of a cult classic, but 'cult' success probably isn't enough when you're talking about a Marvel game.
Most recently, Firaxis released Civilization 7 to cautiously positive critical reviews and a mixed response on Steam. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of parent company Take-Two, told IGN that the game got off to a "slow start," but "our projections for the lifetime value of the title are very consistent with our initial expectations for the title."
