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Update These cutbacks notably come less than six months after a round of layoffs that included veteran game dev Steve Meretzky, and are believed to encompass a variety of game dev positions.

Alex Wawro, Contributor

January 26, 2017

2 Min Read

Gamasutra has learned that mobile and social game maker GSN Games has laid off an estimated 15-20+ people this week, according to a source familiar with the matter.

These cutbacks notably come less than six months after a round of layoffs that included veteran game designer Steve Meretzky, and are believed to encompass a variety of positions, including artists, engineers and producers.

GSN is best known for casino games like Mirrorball Slots and GSN Grand Casino, as well as the Sparcade real-money wagering platform fronted by ex-XBLA frontman Greg Canessa. The studio's most recent big release was Wheel of Fortune Slots last fall.

Gamasutra has reached out to GSN Games representatives for more information, but has yet to receive any response.  As always, if you or someone you know have been affected by these layoffs, you can email Gamasutra to share your story confidentially. 

Update: A GSN representative offered the following statement regarding the layoffs to Gamasutra, attributing it to GSN Games CEO David Goldhill:

"Last summer at GSN Games, we began a restructuring exercise to better align studio resources to deliver on our long-term growth plans and sustain profitability. We have since completed our organizational restructure, focused on five distinct studios across social casino, solitaire, bingo and skill-based gaming categories.

In line with this restructure, we made the difficult decision to implement a reduction in workforce on January 25th in select offices. The reduction primarily impacted those working in cross-functional teams, QA and creative. In looking more closely at our staffing and cost structure, this was a necessary step in order to empower our teams and their leaders to execute on our 2017 plans.

We, unfortunately, had to say goodbye to talented individuals who have played an integral role in helping grow and shape GSN Games into a market-leader in social casino, casual and skill-based gaming. We are committed to providing outplacement services to those impacted by this change, and I thank each of our departing colleagues for all their contributions to GSN Games."

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