Major Layoffs As Day 1 Studios Loses Konami Publishing Deal

F.E.A.R. 3 and MechAssault developer Day 1 Studios has been forced to lay off 95 percent of one of its development teams as a result of losing a publishing deal with Japanese game company Konami, according to recent reports. Prior to these layoffs, the team was working with Konami on an unannounced reboot of the Silent Scope franchise, which hadn't received a major new entry since 2002's Silent Scope 3 on the PlayStation 2. With nearly all of this team let go, Day 1 is left with one other "significantly smaller" team working on a second project, reports GameSpot. While Day 1 has yet to confirm exactly how many employees have been let go, its official website says the company is home to more than 140 employees as of this writing. Day 1 Studios' most recent release was Warner Bros.' F.E.A.R. 3, which released in North America on June 21, 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. In addition, the studio also worked on the console ports on Monolith Production's original F.E.A.R., MechAssault 1 and 2, and the 2008 third-person shooter Fracture. Studio representatives did not respond to Gamasutra's requests for clarification.