PSP World

That's Cold: Activision-Blizzard Cuts 100 Jobs from Radical Entertainment

One of the casualties of the recent Activision/Vivendi merger is Radical Entertainment, based out of Vancouver, Canada. The developer behind upcoming games Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutant and Prototype was hit with massive layoffs today, as the now mega-parent company has decided to focus on fewer titles. Approximately 100 staff, including game designers, software developers, and artists, will be cut from the Vancouver studio. The downsizing came as Activision Blizzard seeks to re-orient the focus of the company on a smaller number of high-quality releases.

"Activision Blizzard is committed to making the best games possible and has elected at this time to reduce the number of titles that Radical is developing from four games to two," Leah Rubin, Radical Entertainment vice-president of human resources, said in an email. "Therefore, we will be proportionately reducing the size of our studio."

It wasn’t all bad news for Radical employees. Rubin also stated that the company would be helping redundant staff find new employment in one of Vancouver’s other game development companies.

What does this news mean for games that were under development at Radical? A source close to the company told us today that the cuts involve “every game except for Prototype and Crash Bandicoot,” suggesting that Scarface 2 and a second, unnamed title will be landing on the cutting-room floor.

No, not yours.

[Via: The Vancouver Sun]