Relic Entertainment lays off 121 staff amid refocus on "core franchises"

Relic Entertainment announced it and parent company Sega have laid off 121 employees at the Vancouver developer. 

On Twitter, the pair released a statement on the "difficult decision" brought on by a larger restructuring effort at the studio. The layoffs come three full months after Company of Heroes 3's release this past February on PC. If the 317 headcount at LinkedIn is true, these layoffs now put the studio at a little under 200 employees. 

"This comes at a time when external factors are challenging our industry more than ever," wrote Relic. "We made this decision to restructure our organization to ensure maximum focus on our core franchise." 

Relic's core properties

Along with Company of Heroes, Relic's "core franchises" that it's worked on include Age of Empires and Warhammer 40,000. An Xbox version of its 2021 game Age of Empires IV is expected to release this year.

"Relic is a studio that treasures our people and is proud of the culture we've grown. [...] We would like to offer our sincerest thanks to each of them for the part they've played in making Relic such a special studio."

The layoffs at Relic continue on from the layoffs at Life is Strange: True Colors developer Deck Nine earlier in the week. And throughout the month of May, other studios have cut their staff, including the likes of Deviation Games, Ubisoft, and Brace Yourself.