THQ to Layoff Again

If you play games then the odds are that you know the name THQ. They are the makers of games such as Darksiders, Warhammer 40.000: Space Marines and the Saints Row games. They are also getting ready to get rid of a serious number of workers. The company is getting rid of 114 employees as a way to cut their costs. The layoffs are being blamed on the transition of a currently unsuccessful product. If the company is going to revamp its Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium game. Currently the game is formatted only as an MMORPG and the company is, in order to make the game more profitable, going to make the game into both a multi-player game and a single player game. They are hoping that this will be more a more profitable format for the game.

Currently the company has not given any details about what types of positions will be cut and what, if any kind of a severance package the company is going to offer the now displaced workers. We also have no word on when the layoffs will go into effect.

This is not the first time in recent months that THQ has seen layoffs as a way out of the hole. For those of you who missed out on our earlier coverage here is a look at what you missed out on:

“Despite the company’s success in the games market, it is having some serious fiscal issues that may slow down, or even stop the flow of games from the company. THQ is getting ready to let go of about one dozen workers in their offices in Australia. They have also begun the process of closing down its offices in Japan, according to reports filed by the Japanese media.

This is not the first time that the company has let go of staff in order to get rid of staff. The Play THQ division, which designs products for the relatively unpopular uDraw line, let go of 30 people recently.  They also recently close a few other studios in Australia, letting go of about 200 workers in the process. Those layoffs were part of a plan to refocus the company. They are looking to get out of the children’s licensed games market and instead focus solely on the more lucrative market of hardcore gamers. The company believes that this will help put them on the right track fiscally, which the company is in desperate need of, as it is being predicted by some analysts that the company will be out of cash by the first quarter of next year.”

These problems are not unique to THQ. Other game companies, such as ID and EA have both been cutting back on staff as a way to enhance their profitability and makeup for games that have either spent too much time in production or that have had a less then enthuastic response from gamers. So on the whole we have to get an idea of how the creative person is going to be able to keep a job in game development.