Update: Krome Studios has confirmed that certain staff are “on notice.”
The company has issued a statement saying that its entire Adelaide studio remains on four-week notice. "As we have seen by other recent announcements, the games industry is still going through economic challenges which Krome is not immune from," said the company in a statement to GameSpot Australia. "These times are challenging and as a result, we have put some of our staff on notice pending the outcome of a number of upcoming projects."
"It is important to note that this action has not affected the development of our current projects, both announced and unannounced, which we are continuing to work on," the statement continued.
Krome also says it "remains firmly committed to the future of all three studios," including the Brisbane studio, Melbourne studio and Adelaide studio.
Original story:
Krome, the Australian developer of Xbox Live’s Game Room and the Wii, PSP and PS2 versions of Force Unleashed, is reportedly facing major staff cuts and studio closures at both the Brisbane and Melbourne locations. Estimates put the layoff figures at over 100 employees.
Confirmed reports already say that Krome’s Adelaide studio has been closed, with unconfirmed reports claiming that the Melbourne studio “might close in a few weeks.”
Other Australian developers have offered their condolences to Krome employees via Twitter. Adelaide-based Tony Albrecht, formerly of Ratbag Games wrote, “My condolences to the Krome guys and gals that were let go today. Sometimes the Game Dev Industry sucks. Go get really drunk is my advice... Yup - Adelaide Krome is shutting down and Melbourne and Brisbane have been cut back heavily. Krome Adelaide are already at the pub."
Though Krome has declined to confirm the total number of employees laid off, they did acknowledge that they had eliminated “an unspecified number of positions,” claiming poor global economic conditions back in April. Those April layoffs followed a previous round of layoffs that occurred in November 2009, again of an unknown number of employees.
The November 2009 layoffs came at a time Krome claimed over 400 full-time employers. The studio was founded in Brisbane in 1999. In addition to working with LucasArts and on the Game Room for Xbox Live, Krome is also known for Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. The company also contributed to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Viva Pinata: Party Animals.
Krome was not confirmed as the developer of the recently cancelled PSP version of Force Unleashed II, so these recent layoffs cannot be tied to the cancelled project at this time.
