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Up to 55 developers could lose their jobs at Evolution Studios as turmoil surrounding the Liverpool-based firm continues.
Last week, it was revealed that the studio would suffer a significant number of layoffs – now that number has been narrowed down.
Sources have told Eurogamer that 55 staff are due to be cut, which is said to be around half of the studio’s workforce. The 55 could be retained as contractors, although this remains unconfirmed.
Sony has released a statement, explaining that these redundancies are part of a studio restructure following the launch of PS4 racer Driveclub, suggesting that Evolution will no longer develop new games.
“Evolution Studios will now focus on Driveclub as a service going forward, in particular, the important launch of the PS Plus Edition,” the platform holder said. “We will be restructuring Evolution Studios to ensure that SCE WWS and in particular Evolution Studios are in the best position to achieve these goals.
“Our first-party development studios are key to our creative strategy and we are very excited about the future projects being worked on and the role Evolution Studios will play.”
Sony added that it will aim to relocate any staff cut from Evolution to other studios, but notes that “unfortunately some redundancies will be necessary and in those cases we will assist staff in any way we can”.
The need for restructuring is reportedly due to costs incurred by Driveclub’s multiple delays and server issues surrounding the game’s launch.
