It was reported by a number of locations earlier this week that Toys For Bob, the creators of Crash Bandicoot and Spyro Reignited, could be shutting down after mother or father firm Activision laid off 162 folks. However, it has emerged that they are going to not be closing their doorways totally.
The San Francisco Chronicle experiences that the layoffs have an effect on 86 folks in Novato and 76 in Foster City. The Novato tackle matches the tackle of Toys For Bob’s places of work. The editor of the gaming information website Seasoned Gaming has acknowledged on Twitter/X that Toys For Bob has closed down its places of work and can proceed to work remotely with its remaining employees.
Correction: I deleted my prior submit about Toys for Bob as a result of it was seemingly incorrect.
It appears the bodily workplace was shut down and a few staff have been let go. But the studio itself remains to be lively with a majority employees of distant employees.
Apologies!
Now… pic.twitter.com/cU76imWedY
— Ains (@Porshapwr) February 8, 2024
A separate Twitter person, Jez Corden (Managing Editor of Windows Central) has additionally received confirmation that “Toys For Bob is not closing down.”
Insider Gaming reported final month that Sledgehammer Games, recognized for his or her work on the Call of Duty franchise, was additionally closing down its places of work and shifting to distant working – this appears to be linked to the 76 layoffs in Foster City.
This motion from massive city workplace areas to remote-first working could possibly be a key means sport corporations look to save cash within the face of trade instability and mass layoffs.
Games Industry Layoffs
The video games trade has been in turmoil just lately with mass layoffs hitting a number of corporations. Microsoft introduced that 1,900 folks can be affected by layoffs despite its $67 billion take care of Activision Blizzard. Unity minimize as a lot as 25% of its workforce in January, and EA minimize jobs in Codemasters.
Amidst the uncertainty, quotes late Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata made in 2013 have reemerged. In Japan, it’s unlawful for corporations to make layoffs besides in very particular circumstances, so Iwata took a 50% pay minimize, with different board members having 20% pay cuts, to make sure they may proceed to pay employees.
Featured picture credit score: Toys For Bob