First introduced by former Square Enix employees and later confirmed by information provided to IGN, Square Enix has laid off over 100 employees working in the US, with reportedly 137 in the UK at risk as well. The employees were told about the layoffs as of November 6th, with some leaving by the end of the week. The massive reorganization in the company falls in line with recent changes in AAA gaming companies. The exact number of employees affected by the change is still unknown, with many still unsure if they will remain with the company.
Alongside the statement that was provided to IGN, Square Enix made a related progress report public yesterday. The information provided by the slides helps to explain the new direction that the company intends to go toward and why that plan involved layoffs in the US and UK. Included in the opening slides is a statement expressing an interest in expanding the use of AI by 2027 to automate 70% of debugging tasks in games. This coincides with the later slides that detail the goal of “reorganization of overseas organizations” with a special emphasis on consolidating more operations in Japan. The reason the company sites for the change is that the current system is “overly layered and segmented.” The layoffs are part of a process to transform the organization into a system that is more “lean, agile,” and comprised of “multi-skilled teams.”
With AI tools advancing, more and more companies capable of affording the large expenses associated with the technology are able to shift to artificial labor. This was seen last month with the layoffs at Amazon Games and is continued here. While the decision has already proven controversial, the increasing willingness of companies to take steps toward automation indicate that it is profitable, offering no incentive to change. More information regarding the scope of layoffs will surface as more individuals share their experiences and more numbers are made public.