NCSoft, publisher of Wildstar, Guild Wars, and Lineage, has announced significant restructuring in its Western operations. The staff cuts exclude Guild wars developer ArenaNet.
According to NCSoft, this restructuring is in service of a new strategy. Polygon reports that the most significant impact was to Wildstar developer Carbine.
Carbine, which began operations in 2005, released the MMO Wildstar this year. NCSoft says that it remains committed to the title, along with Aion, Lineage, and Guild Wars. The full statement provided to Game Informer by NCSoft follows.
Today we announced a restructuring of key operations within NC West. As a result of this restructuring, we are implementing staff reductions across our Western operations with the exclusion of ArenaNet. While decisions like this are always hard, they are necessary as we begin the implementation of a new strategy designed to strengthen our footing as a leader in global entertainment.
Moving forward, we will continue to focus on our core development capabilities and the intellectual properties (WildStar, Aion, Lineage, and Guild Wars franchises) that have made NCSOFT what it is today. However, we are looking to move into new business segments like mobile and tablet games as well as explore emerging technologies.
Again, the decision to reduce staff was not an easy one, and we sincerely wish everyone well in their next endeavors.
[Source: Polygon]
Our Take
Our thoughts go out to those employees affected by the layoffs.