Despite the news that Warner Brothers expects to make $1.5 billion from games next year, the publisher has announced it’s plans to layoff a portion of developer Turbine’s staff. Turbine, who make Lord of the Rings: Online and Warner’s DC moba Infinite Crisis are being cut down in order for [Warner Brothers] to invest in growth areas at Turbine.”
“As part of our normal business process, we’re routinely looking at the strategic alignment of our company,” a Warner Bros. representative told Joystiq. “Unfortunately, in order for us to invest in growth areas at Turbine, we have to eliminate some positions. These are always tough decisions, which we don’t approach lightly, but it’s crucial that Turbine is structured in a way that reflects the current and coming marketplace.”
Warner haven’t said which team’s are seeing the cuts, whether it’s specifically Infinite Crisis or Lord of the Rings: Online, or possibly broad sweeping cuts across the whole studio. Warner have also kept quiet on the exact number of people who will lose their jobs.
According to Gamasutra, a source has said that 80 people lost jobs in the layoffs. Turbine’s LinkedIn page states that the studio employs 370 staff, so to lose 80 people in one go is a significant portion of its workforce. Gamasutra’s source says layoffs were to focus the studio on mobile development.
This isn’t the first time Warner have downsized Turbine. Staff were also let go in February of this year.