Avalanche Studios, the Swedish developer of Eidos Interactive’s
Just Cause franchise, will lay off 77 staffers from its offices in central Stockholm.
The news was first reported by the
Swedish media, and a
translation of the initial report by consumer website Gamereactor International says that the move is due to the developer losing two publishing contracts and being forced to cancel the projects involved.
Both
Just Cause 2 and the recently-announced
The Hunter are reportedly unaffected by the news, meaning that both of the canceled projects involved unannounced titles for unknown platforms and publishers.
The current global credit crisis is believed to be the root cause behind the cancellations; one of the unnamed publishers apparently prefers to focus on more family-friendly titles, while the other appears to be suffering from funding problems.
The two lost contracts were worth $34 million to Avalanche Studios.
Just Cause 2 was recently delayed until spring 2009, while free-to-play online game
The Hunter is already in open beta.
