Report: 50 laid off as Gree shutters Melbourne studio

Mobile and social game powerhouse Gree International Entertainment has laid off 50 at its Melbourne office. 

As reported by Kotaku, that means the studio - formerly known at Australian mobile developer, Twiitch - has effectively been shut down. 

Gree International Entertainment is the overseas division of the Japanese publisher, and is the developer behind titles like Modern War, Knights and Dragons, and Crime City. 

Gree Melbourne worked on all three of those games, and had been a very active part of the Australian dev scene until very recently. 

It's unclear why the studio has been shuttered, but it wouldn't be the first time in recent memory that Gree felt the need to downsize. 

Earlier this year the company made an unspecified number of layoffs at its San Francisco office so it could focus on expanding its "development efforts in international markets."

Kotaku's report suggests that office in San Francisco, along with Gree's Berlin studio, might've also been affected by the latest round of layoffs. Gamasutra has reached out to confirm the news.