Activision Publishing cuts staff
Disappointing year prompts layoffs at studios including Infinity Ward and Beenox
Activision Publishing has laid off 5% of its workforce, according to a Kotaku report.
Activision Publishing's website puts its headcount at more than 4,000 people, so a 5% cut would involve at least 200 people. Kotaku reports that the cuts were distributed across the organization, from corporate offices to studios like Infinity Ward (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare) and Beenox, which handled the Infinite Warfare companion offering Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.
Parent company Activision Blizzard posted record financial results yesterday, but Activision Publishing saw revenues tumble 22% year-over-year on a disappointing performance from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.
"Activision Publishing is realigning our resources to support our upcoming slate and adapt to the accelerating transition to digital, including opportunities for digital add-on content," a representative told Kotaku.
Looking ahead, this year will see Activision release the Bungie-developed Destiny 2 and a new Call of Duty that promises to ditch Infinite Warfare's space setting and take the series "back to its roots."
One thing the publisher doesn't have in 2017 is a new Skylanders game. Instead of releasing a new sequel as it has done each year since the series' inception, Activision will continue to support last year's Skylanders: Imaginators with new characters and adventure packs, as well as a port for the Nintendo Switch.
[CORRECTION]: This article originally said that Activision's Treyarch studio had been impacted by layoffs. The studio was unaffected, and we regret the error.