According to official papers filed at the Employment Security Department of Washington and reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal, Monolith Productions has laid off 80 employees at its Kirkland, Washington offices. The layoffs are related to Monolith's
sale of the Matrix Online game to fellow MMO creator Sony Online Entertainment - previously, no layoff figures had been given by either company.
Monolith Productions is currently a subsidiary of Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment, following an October 2004 acquisition. The developer employed around 200 staffers prior to the layoff. The last day for the laid-off staffers will be August 15th, according to the Employment Security Department filing.
However, it's important to note that some of the staffers will continue on the
Matrix Online project at Sony Online Entertainment, which would otherwise have to maintain and support the game without any of its original staff - speaking to industry site GameDAILY late last week, SOE's Chris Kramer commented: "We've extended job offers to more than 25 members of the
MxO team."
