Why it matters: We’re not even three months into 2019, and it's already looking like it'll be a tough year for those in the games industry. Following in the footsteps of other companies, GOG has confirmed it laid off around a dozen people, or about 10 percent of its workforce, last week. While the company claims this was part of an ongoing restructuring process, one former employee said it was a “financial decision.”
In a statement to Kotaku, a representative from the digital store said: “We have been rearranging certain teams since October 2018, effecting in closing around a dozen of positions last week. At the same time, since the process started we have welcomed nearly twice as many new team members, and currently hold 20 open positions.”
However, one of the unfortunate employees who was let go painted a different picture. They said that while GOG had an excellent January, the company has really struggled in February. The person added that the firm has been dangerously close to being in the red for a few months, and although general restructuring was not unprecedented, “layoffs that big have never happened before.”
It’s suspected that GOG’s struggles are partly related to the launch of the Epic Games Store, which offers developers an 88 percent revenue cut, as opposed to the 70 percent share offered by Steam and GOG.
Another problem GOG faces is its relatively small size compared to Steam. The excellent Thronbreaker: The Witcher Tales, which was published by GOG owner CD Projekt, didn’t sell as well as expected following an exclusive release on the store. It eventually appeared on Steam to boost numbers.
The news comes after Activision said it was laying off 775 people, or 8 percent of its workforce, despite generating record profits last year. EA is also letting people go, at its FireMonkeys studio in Australia. Ironically, both companies’ bosses made the ‘most overpaid CEOs’ list.
https://www.techspot.com/news/78925-gog-lays-off-10-staff-reportedly-over-financial.html
