Ex-Sega studio Relic hit by fresh layoffs following sale

Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment has said it will make further layoffs, following its sale by Sega announced last week.

In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Relic said the job losses were «not an easy decision» but one «made solely with the goal of providing Relic the best possible chance to survive in an increasingly volatile industry».

Sega, Relic's former owner, announced it was cutting ties with the team last week as it shed 240 staff of its own across its European studios — the majority of which were at Total War developer Creative Assembly. At the time, Relic confirmed it had become an independent studio backed by an unnamed «external investor».

Newscast: Why are there so many games industry layoffs? Newscast: Why are there so many video game industry layoffs?Watch on YouTube

Relic has not formally stated how many staff it is letting go, though a separate post by the studio's external development producer Robyn Smale noted the number of jobs lost as «41».

These latest layoffs follow a major round of redundancies at Relic in May 2023, less than 12 months ago, when Sega laid off 121 staff at the Vancouver-based firm.

Relic's next video game project is currently unannounced, but the studio previously confirmed that its support for Company of Heroes 3 would continue.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently stated he was «concerned» over layoffs due to lack of industry growth, following the departure of 1900 people across Xbox and Activision Blizzard in January of this year. Across the video games industry as a whole, more than 15,000 people are thought to have been let go over the past 18 months.