The Rockstar development team responsible for Red Dead Redemption has suffered heavy layoffs in the wake of the game’s release and critical success. The company told IGN today that "about" 40 employees were let go from its San Diego studio, but would not say what positions these employees had.
In response to the layoffs, Rockstar San Diego studio manager Steve Martin released a statement citing the industry’s typical fluctuation of size with game studios before and after a game’s release as the reasoning behind the unloading.
"As is typical with game development, our team sizes have always fluctuated over the course of the development cycle," said Martin. "As Rockstar San Diego transitions from the launch of Red Dead Redemption onto future projects, we are realigning our resources in order to continue to develop games as effectively as possible."
He went on to state that employees let go are being cared for and also made it clear that there are no plans for a sequel to Red Dead Redemption just yet.
"We are ensuring that all employees who are affected by these changes are being treated with care," Martin continued. "While we have no announcements to make regarding a sequel to Red Dead Redemption, the team here are hard at work on the development of downloadable content for the game."
Red Dead Redemption is set to receive four more DLC packs over the next six months in addition to the recently released Outlaws to the End Co-op pack. The critically acclaimed sandbox western game sold over 1.5 million copies in its launch month of May.
[IGN]
