Firaxis, the gaming studio behind the strategy-based video game series Civilization, has recently laid off some of their employees after the release of their latest game Civilization VII. 2K confirmed the Firaxis layoffs in a report from Game Developer, claiming that the “studio restructures and optimizes its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity.”
The layoffs affected employees across various areas of development. Some impacted individuals worked in managerial roles, such as producers, outsource managers, cinematic directors, and technical directors. Various artists who worked for the gaming company were impacted as well, including character artists, environment artists, animators, and narrative writers. While there is no official announcement stating the exact number of laid off individuals, the Game Developer report confirms that at least a dozen employees were affected.
The widespread impact of the layoffs is accompanied by the financial success of Firaxis’ Civilization VII. The launch of Civilization VII was rough for developers and fans alike, which Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick confirms in an interview with IGN. He said the game had “slow start,” likely due to players’ disappointment with user interface and lack of expected features. Even now, the game has received mixed reviews on their official Steam page. Despite these initial struggles, Zelnick claims that “projections for the lifetime value of the title are very consistent with our initial expectations for the title.”
Firaxis is not the only company under the 2K umbrella to suffer from a recent string of layoffs. In August, Cloud Chamber, the company behind Bioshock 4, suffered from layoffs and shift in management. 2K’s mobile game division, Cat Daddy Games, underwent a similar series of layoffs this past July. Similarly to Firaxis’ layoffs, both producers and artists were affected. The layoffs at Cat Daddy Games were also not due to the sector’s lack of profit, as they were responsible for nearly half of Take-Two’s profits in 2024.
Despite the multiple rounds of layoffs in multiple of their divisions, Take-Two has high expectations for their upcoming profits with the anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto VI in 2027.