Maryland-based developer Firaxis, best known for the popular strategy game franchise Civilization, laid off 20 employees to satisfy requirements under parent company Take-Two’s program to “realign” resources.
The studio website states that it employs 130 workers, and the new layoffs result in approximately 15% of the staff.
Take-Two related the news in a statement, “Firaxis has realigned its development resources in order to streamline its development process, reduce costs and maximize the overall performance of the studio.”
Firaxis, founded in 1996 by Microprose employees Sid Meier, Jeff Briggs and Brian Reynolds, is currently working on Sid Meier’s Civilization V. Take-Two has stated that the layoffs will not affect the development of the game or the upcoming Civilization Network on Facebook, both due out this September. Firaxis was acquired by Take-Two in 2005, with Sid Meier taking the lead at Firaxis as director of creative development.
