(Photo : nDreams / Screenshot taken from official website)
UK-based VR studio nDreams announced the layoff of 17.5% of its staff over a renewed strategic focus for the company.
The news was shared by CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh who said that the studio tried to explore multiple alternatives to avoid the layoffs. However, he noted that a new strategic focus may result in redundancies that could affect up to 17.5% of the company.
nDreams Studio's Renewed Strategic Focus
The studio listed on its LinkedIn page that it has a headcount of between 201 and 500 employees. This means that the layoffs could affect between 35 and 88 workers at "all levels" of the organization.
O'Luanaigh told team members that they had informed their colleagues of a renewed strategic focus. He noted that the decision could lead to redundancies that could affect nearly a fifth of the entire company, according to GamesIndustry.
He said that they spent the last few months trying to find a way to avoid such a decision amid a challenging VR games market. The executive added that they announced the news with deep regret.
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The layoffs would include losing valued and talented members of their teams which could also affect senior leadership. O'Luanaigh's statement added that they were working tirelessly to support their team members throughout this difficult situation.
Despite the decision, the studio noted that its upcoming titles, Frenzies and Vendetta Forever, are "unaffected." nDreams said that they have been fully focused on VR development since 2013, said PocketGamer.
The company faced various challenges in trying to build a modest independent studio and turning it into a world-leading VR game developer. The studio tried to push both the technology and the market forward.
A Difficult Decision
The statement added that the necessary considerations of losing valued team members are the most difficult of the challenges so far. However, the organization believes that its proposed new structure will enable it to better serve current and future customers.
The UK VR studio was originally founded in 2006 and right now has four teams, nDreams Studio, Orbital, Near Light, and Elevation. The studio was acquired by Swedish conglomerate Aonic in November last year in a $110 million deal.
The latest layoffs also mark the most recent of a series of job cuts in the video game industry that has affected even major companies, such as Sony and Microsoft.
The former laid off 900 PlayStation employees in February. The latter cut jobs for more than 2,550 workers last year, according to Eurogamer.
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