Crystal Dynamics Layoffs Affect Staff Working on New IP

Square Enix studio Crystal Dynamics, developers of the Tomb Raider reboot, has been hit with series of layoffs due to what the publisher is calling "redundancies."

About a dozen people have been released from their obligations to Crystal Dynamics due to the restructuring. None of the Tomb Raider team has been affected, but a part of a team working on a new unannounced game were let go as a result. Square Enix released a statement to Kotaku confirming the move.

We’ve made some decisions at Crystal Dynamics last week around the second project we’re working on, which has resulted in a small number of roles (roughly 12) becoming redundant as we re-scope the project. This doesn’t affect the Tomb Raider development team, who as confirmed last week are well into production on a next-generation sequel. We’re a close-knit team at Crystal and wouldn’t be making these changes if we didn’t feel it was absolutely necessary. We’ll help those affected as best we can and we want to thank them for their hard work and commitment.

Development on the yet-to-be-announced game will continue, though the staff will obviously have some roles adjusted to make up for the loss in talent. The industry has been struggling to fend off business moves like this in recent years, but hopefully the game world will be revitalized with the upcoming generation, and there won't be so many closures and layoffs in the coming years.