Skip to main content

Level-5 International America closes design department

Two laid off, another moved to new role as Japan HQ takes over project

Level-5 International America has laid off two employees and moved a third into another role following the closure of a game design department.

Speaking to a source familiar with the matter, GamesIndustry.biz learned that the department's project had been moved to Japan. According to LinkedIn, the California-based arm of the company only has between 2 and 10 employees total.

When reached for comment, Level-5 confirmed the layoffs had occurred but declined to comment on details, as this was "not a large-scale restructuring."

Level-5's most recent North American releases were Yo-Kai Watch 3 earlier this year and Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom last year, with the former published by Nintendo and the latter by Bandai Namco. It is unclear as to which projects remain the responsibility of Level-5's International America branch.

Read this next

Rebekah Valentine avatar
Rebekah Valentine: Rebekah arrived at GamesIndustry in 2018 after four years of freelance writing and editing across multiple gaming and tech sites. When she's not recreating video game foods in a real life kitchen, she's happily imagining herself as an Animal Crossing character.
Related topics