Gameloft closes Madrid studio - report
Closure marks seventh significant cut to a Gameloft studio in less than three years
French publisher Gameloft has made significant cuts to its seventh studio in less than three years, following the closure of its Madrid office yesterday morning.
The news of Gameloft Madrid comes less than a month after the closure of its New Orleans office in early February.
Since 2015, Gameloft has cut or shuttered five other studios around the world, including New York, Seattle, Tokyo, Valencia, and New Zealand.
While the number of staff let go with the Madrid closure is yet to be confirmed, Spanish language tech site Vandal reports it around 40.
GamesIndustry.biz reached out to multiple people at both Gameloft and its parent company Vivendi, but has been met with a stony wall of silence.
However, our Spanish language sister site Eurogamer.es has been able to confirm the reported closure.
"I can confirm that, indeed, Gameloft is closing their studio in Madrid," Eurogamer.es sub director Josep Maria Sempere told GamesIndustry.biz.
"They notified the people working there yesterday morning and now it seems they're working on settlements and contract terminations."
According to Sempere, Gameloft Madrid fired 40% of its workforce last year following an ERE which, under Spanish law, allows companies struggling economically to seek authorisation to suspend or dismiss workers.
"It's been the same situation that happened with Gameloft in Valencia," he said. "Gameloft closed the studio on a Monday morning with no previous warning, and even having open positions offered on job hunting sites."