Publisher Square Enix has announced they have performed layoffs for the Thief development studio, Eidos Montreal. The news comes just one week after the Thief reboot hit stores shelves. In total, Square Enix has cut 27 jobs from the development team. They’ve explained why in a statement to GameSpot, saying:
Yes it is true, we’ve let 27 people go today. Unfortunately it’s something that every major studio has to do sometimes in order to ensure you have the right set up for current and future projects. It’s never a nice thing to do but we are genuinely trying to offer as much support as much as we can.
We’re trying to re-locate as many people as possible into other roles here or at our other studios and we’ve been in touch several studios in Montreal to arrange a career day for those affected by this. We’re very thankful for all their hard work and we sincerely wish them well.
As someone who has played the recent Thief reboot, this comes as quite a shock. The game is rather incredible for being a reboot of an extremely old franchise. While some minor hiccups do occur, overall it an enjoyable and enthralling experience on the PlayStation 4.
Thief was released on February 25th for the PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Review scores ranged in the mid area overall from the majority of sites, around 5 or 6 out of 10 generally.
What did you think of the Thief reboot? How about the numerous layoffs being experienced at Eidos Montreal? Let’s hope the talented team there find new homes quickly.
