Sega has announced that it has sold Relic Entertainment to an unspecified investor and will cut a total of 240 jobs across multiple teams in Europe.
As reported by IGN, the job losses will be split across Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and Sega Hardlight. It's reported that the latter will be the least affected, with the majority of layoffs hitting Sega Europe and Creative Assembly.
Meanwhile, Relic Entertainment will effectively become an independently run studio with support from the external investor.
Jurgen Post, the recently appointed head of Sega Europe, sent an email to staff to notify of the changes and stated the following:
"I want to sincerely apologise for the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those directly affected. These decisions have been incredibly tough to make, and they follow meticulous consideration and deliberation with leadership teams across the business. Change is necessary to secure the future of our games business, and to ensure that we are well placed to deliver the best possible experiences to our players going forward.
“We need to streamline, focus on what we are good at, and position ourselves as best we can for the road ahead. In order to do that, we need to respond to the changing economic landscape and the challenges we’re facing in the way we develop our products and bring them to market.”
Post also apologised if staff found out about the layoffs via social media due to the company's legal obligation to notify the Tokyo Stock Exchange first. Post stated, "Due to the nature of this announcement and our legal obligations in Japan, we were unable to share any detail with you until now. That is far from ideal and means some of you may have read about this in the media or via social networks before seeing this email. If that is the case, I’m sorry".
The news is the latest in a string of layoffs hitting the games industry, with Sega of America cutting 61 jobs back in March of this year. Other companies reporting layoffs include the likes of Microsoft, Embracer Group (of course), Telltale Games, and more.
Just recently, we reported that Nintendo of America had restructured its testing department, with over 100 contractor jobs cut. Nintendo also clarified, however, that a "significant number of new full-time employee positions" had also been created.