‘Total War’ developer confirms layoffs following ‘Hyenas’ cancellation

29 September, 2023

Creative Assembly, the developer of Total War, has announced that this week’s cancellation of Hyenas has led to layoffs.

Sega Sammy stated that it expected “record losses of approximately 14.3 billion yen [£78.6million]” in this fiscal year and as a result, “structural reforms aimed at increasing efficiency” were necessary.

Hyenas had a closed beta last month, signifying that the sci-fi extraction shooter was approaching a potential release in some shape or form. However, the game was one of an undisclosed number of titles that were cancelled in order to safeguard the stability of the publisher.

In a post to X (previously Twitter), Creative Assembly expressed its regret for these events that have led to losses at the company.

“We have made the incredibly difficult decision to begin a redundancy consultation process in some areas of our UK operations, alongside ending development of Hyenas,” it said.

“We have always aimed to operate as a ‘people-first’ studio; that is foundational to our values and culture. While we must go through this incredibly difficult process, we will prioritise supporting our people at every step.”

Creative Assembly continued to state that those who have been impacted will be re-allocated into “other available roles” at the company so that the losses are as limited as possible.

A second statement was provided through the official Hyenas X account, asking for fans’ sympathies for the developers that have been laid off.

‘Hyenas’ Credit: Sega

“We knew our plans were ambitious and we knew we were diving headfirst into competition with some of the greats,” it said. “But we believed in the journey and we’re proud to have taken every step along the way.

“We hope you’ll join us in remembering the action-packed, zero-G chaos and the diehard community of players who helped us make it special.”

In other gaming news, those who “associate” with Counter-Strike 2 cheaters will also be penalised, but Valve hasn’t shared what constitutes as collaborating with bad actors.

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