Developer Slant Six has cut roughly a quarter of its employees, hoping it will be able to hire them back after it confirms new projects. Despite reporting decent sales for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, the sales unfortunately weren't enough for Slant Six to justify keeping its entire workforce.
Slant Six remains positive that this is only a temporary measure, a representative saying that more than a quarter of the staff were given the option of either taking a severance package, or accepting a temporary layoff. Those who accepted the layoff are able to collect employment insurance and retain benefits. However, if 13 weeks go by and Slant Six is still unable to hire them back, the termination is permanant.
An official statement from the company reads...
"Regretfully, we can confirm that there have been some temporary layoffs at our studio. We must stress that these are temporary layoffs, which means we are working very hard on new business prospects so we can reinstate every single person affected. As an independent and close-knit studio it is a very difficult but necessary business measure due to the current project cycle demands."
The majority of the affected employees accepted the temporary layoff, while the workers that remain with the company will contine to work on Slant Six's next projects.
Unfortunately this kind of news is not new in today's current game market, and the economic climate as a whole. All the best to the affected workers affected, and hopefully good news will rear its end within the 13 week period.