Activision Lays Off 7% Of Workforce

In a story first reported by Reuters and The Wall Street Journal, publisher Activision has admitted that it is laying off 7 percent of its worldwide staff, thought to amount to around 150 workers. The cuts are said to be across the board, with no specific developer or publishing unit announced as being affected more than another, with spokesman Ashley Dyer commenting that the layoffs were part of an effort to "realign" the company's operations for the next two years. The news follows disappointing financial results for the company, in which it revised down its predicted earnings for the coming year, in the light of weaker than expected results over the Christmas period. Activision’s actions mirror those of Electronic Arts earlier in the month when the number one third party publisher announced it was cutting 5 percent of its workforce after similarly disappointing results. "We're just trying [to] strike a balance between our near-term needs in '07 and our anticipated growth in '08," said Activision’s Dyer to TheStreet.com. The company will attempt to redeploy workers where possible, after having notified them last week of the layoffs. Shares of Activision closed the regular session up 12 cents to $13.07. Despite earlier hopes to the contrary, the transition to the next generation of consoles looks likely to be significantly disruptive. Limited supplies of the Xbox 360 and a lack of news regarding the Revolution and PlayStation 3 have convinced many consumers to save their money until the situation resolves itself – something that is not likely happen in North American until past the assumed launch of the PlayStation 3 this autumn.