Gameloft UK shuts down

Original story (05/12/2019): Gameloft has shut down its UK office.

News of the closure emerged through the LinkedIn posts of John-Paul Burke, formerly managing director for the UK, Ireland and Nordics.

According to Burke's posts, employees at Gameloft UK were primarily in marketing and PR capacities, rather than development. Gameloft has confirmed that seven total employees were affected by the shutdown.

In his post, Burke wrote: "It was a dream job and I thank [Gameloft] for the opportunity. It gave me a fantastic platform and took me to beautiful cities and worked with amazing clients and colleagues. We had tremendous success and now it is on to the next exciting challenge.

He continued: "Gameloft HQ will be delivering the same fantastic service across the world and I wish them the very best of luck."

The closure seems to have been signalled a while back, as another post by Burke and comments from his colleagues suggest the shut down was already on the horizon.

The studio's demise follows a recent Kotaku Australia report that Gameloft Brisbane suffered 15 layoffs.

We spoke to Burke last year about how Gameloft has maintained its position as No.1 mobile publisher despite not having any chart-topping games.

Update: Gameloft has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that seven total employees were affected by the shutdown, and has also issued the following statement from a company representative:

"As a company, we need to adapt our resources capacities and proceed with adjustments, in light of the fast-changing industry. In the B2B space, Gameloft is focusing its strategy on high added-value solutions such as tailored advertising solutions for brands and is focusing on a selection of priority markets. We are adjusting and redeploying our commercial network to reflect our priorities, and we have decided to create business hubs and rely on the most dynamic regions. This is unfortunately leading to the closure of our London commercial office. We are working with all employees, on a case by case basis, to find the best way to handle their situation in accordance with local employment regulations.

"We will continue serving the UK market for both our ads & distribution businesses from other European offices, as unfortunately, the level of business generated across both activities over the past 2-3 years no longer justifies to maintain a local presence for this market.

"We are creating business hubs and rely on the most dynamic regions to support our partners, and this way ensure that our commercial network, the biggest of any mobile game publishers, keeps bringing a unique support to game developers, mobile carriers and brands."

Update (09/12/19): Since originally publishing this story, GamesIndustry.biz has heard reports that Gameloft's Manila branch had also closed. A spokesperson has since confirmed that this was shut down earlier this year.

Manila was a web services offce, and some roles have been moved to other branches.

The company has also confirmed layoffs in Brisbane. The remaining team will continue work on Ballistic Baseball and other unannounced projects.

"We are working with all employees, on a case-by-case basis, to find the best way to handle their situation in accordance with local employment regulations," the spokesperson said.

Additional reporting by Rebekah Valentine