Gameloft has reportedly closed its New Orleans office and, according to a source speaking to Gamasutra, laid off roughly 40 staff members in the process.
The New Orleans studio is the latest of several Gameloft offices to face closure or significant layoffs in the past few years.
First established in 2011, Gameloft New Orleans seems to have unfortunately now followed in the footsteps of the French publisher’s Valencia, Tokyo, New Zealand, and Seattle, and New York offices, all of which saw either significant layoffs or full closure in since 2015. Including Gameloft New Orleans staff, nearly 900 people have lost jobs as a result of these closures.
In those previous cases, Gameloft noted that the sizable cuts were made in an effort “to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions and to increase revenues more profitably.”
We’ve reached out to Gameloft for confirmation and further comment on this latest studio closure and will update this story following a reply.
Gameloft itself was notably acquired by Vivendi by way of a hostile takeover in 2016. The organization was one of two game companies the French conglomerate had been eyeing for a hostile takeover alongside Ubisoft.
As always, if you or someone you know has been affected by these layoffs, you can email Gamasutra to share your story confidentially.
UPDATE: Multiple sources speaking to Gamasutra have disclosed that another Gameloft studio, Gameloft Madrid, faced layoffs recently as well. According to an anonymous source, Gameloft quietly laid off 29 staff members in October 2017. That individual described the situation at the studio as "dire" and noted that an additional 20 developers have walked away from the Madrid studio voluntarily since those layoffs.
A Gameloft representative later offered the following statement in response to an earlier email seeking confirmation of the Gameloft New Orleans closure:
"Gameloft is actively managing its production organization and is refocusing on it most efficient and experienced creation centers in order to adapt to rapidly changing market conditions and to drive the company’s next phase of growth."