Sega sells Relic Entertainment and cuts multiple teams

Sega has recently made the decision to sell Relic Entertainment to an undisclosed investor, resulting in the unfortunate loss of 240 jobs across various teams in Europe.

According to IGN, there will be job losses at Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and Sega Hardlight. According to reports, the latter will only have a minor impact, while Sega Europe and Creative Assembly will experience the majority of layoffs.

Meanwhile, Relic Entertainment will operate as an independent studio with backing from an external investor.

Jurgen Post, the newly appointed head of Sega Europe, sent an email to the staff to inform them about the changes. In the email, he mentioned the following:

“I want to sincerely apologise for the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those directly affected. These decisions have been incredibly tough to make, and they follow meticulous consideration and deliberation with leadership teams across the business. Change is necessary to secure the future of our games business, and to ensure that we are well placed to deliver the best possible experiences to our players going forward.

“We need to streamline, focus on what we are good at, and position ourselves as best we can for the road ahead. In order to do that, we need to respond to the changing economic landscape and the challenges we’re facing in the way we develop our products and bring them to market.”

Post expressed regret if employees discovered the layoffs through social media, as the company is legally required to inform the Tokyo Stock Exchange first. As the post mentioned, “Due to the nature of this announcement and our legal obligations in Japan, we were unable to share any detail with you until now. Unfortunately, this situation is less than satisfactory, resulting in the possibility that some of you may have come across this information through various media outlets or social networks prior to receiving this email. I apologize if that is the case.

This news adds to the growing list of layoffs that have been affecting the games industry, as Sega of America had to let go of 61 employees earlier this year. Additional companies that have announced layoffs include Microsoft, Embracer Group, Telltale Games, and others.

In a recent development, it has come to our attention that Nintendo of America has made significant changes to its testing department, resulting in the unfortunate loss of over 100 contractor jobs. In addition, Nintendo made it clear that they had also generated a substantial number of new full-time employee positions.