Activision cuts workforce in Santa Monica HQ

Activision has reduced its workforce by approximately 7 per cent at its Santa Monica headquarters, axing around 150 jobs as the publisher continues to pursue a conservative strategy during the next-generation console transition.

The move is being billed as a "strategic, targeted reduction" which forms part of the company's overall strategy to maintain its presence in the current market and plan for the future by "optimising worldwide cost structure and resource allocation."

The news follows the recent release of Activision's Q3 financial results, which showed an increase of 20 per cent in net revenues - but a noticeably reduced income thanks to soft market conditions, poor sales performance of several key titles and the impact of Microsoft's next-generation console component shortages.

The publisher faired better than some during the unusually quiet pre-Christmas sales period but remains cautious as we move into 2006, suggesting a further continuation of the low consumer demand for current generation software and building a significant reserve to help the publisher weather the transition to a next-generation market.

"The reduced head count is to better align resources against our near term needs in fiscal '07 and our anticipated growth in '08," an Activision spokesperson told US website Gamespot, adding that some of the staff are being redeployed "where appropriate" to lessen the impact of the cull.