Jobs lost as Nexon America restructures
But publisher insists there's no significant impact to overall workforce, layoffs unrelated to struggling Lawbreakers
Nexon America has laid off an undisclosed number of employees, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal.
A spokesperson from the publisher told us there has been some restructuring in order to "streamline operations and reset the organisation to pursue a deeper focus on our most promising titles."
The spokesperson continued: "Unfortunately, this means we had to let some people go, but the numbers do not represent any significance to our overall workforce."
However, a source tells GamesIndustry.biz that up to one fifth of the branch's staff may have been laid off.
Several employees - including community manager Alexis Henson, QA leads Robert Campbell and 'Jordy Gamer Girl', and influencer relations manager 'Miss Murder' - have indicated they have been affected by these layoffs via Twitter.
There will no doubt be speculation that the restructure is at least partially the result of the poor performance of Lawbreakers, the debut title from Cliff Bleszinski's new title. The arena-based shooter suffered a slow launch last summer, and was even highlighted as a low point in Nexon's latest financials.
But the Nexon spokesperson claims the restructure is "unrelated to Lawbreakers' financial performance", reiterating that its primary objective is to "sharpen Nexon Amercia's focus and improve our overall live operations capability for long-term success."
The spokesperson concluded: "We are a financially stable and growing company continuing to report record earnings. Changes we made are not tied to financial reasons, but to turn Nexon around in an effort to establish ourselves as a strong player in the Western market, replicating the success Nexon has had in Asia."
UPDATE: The Nexon America spokesperson has contacted GamesIndustry.biz to clarify that the amount of staff affected by these layoffs is "definitely not one fifth" - a figure we're told is "not even close".
They also stressed that the known ex-employees mentioned above were not connected to Lawbreakers, restating that the Boss Key title's struggles are unrelated to the Nexon America restructure.