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Report: Avalanche Studios To Lay Off 77 Developers

Avalanche Studios, the Swedish developer of Eidos Interactive’s Just Cause franchise, will lay off 77 staffers from its offices in central Stockholm, following the loss of two separate publishing contracts for other games, according to media report

David Jenkins, Blogger

October 28, 2008

1 Min Read
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Avalanche Studios, the Swedish developer of Eidos Interactive’s Just Cause franchise, will lay off 77 staffers from its offices in central Stockholm. The news was first reported by the Swedish media, and a translation of the initial report by consumer website Gamereactor International says that the move is due to the developer losing two publishing contracts and being forced to cancel the projects involved. Both Just Cause 2 and the recently-announced The Hunter are reportedly unaffected by the news, meaning that both of the canceled projects involved unannounced titles for unknown platforms and publishers. The current global credit crisis is believed to be the root cause behind the cancellations; one of the unnamed publishers apparently prefers to focus on more family-friendly titles, while the other appears to be suffering from funding problems. The two lost contracts were worth $34 million to Avalanche Studios. Just Cause 2 was recently delayed until spring 2009, while free-to-play online game The Hunter is already in open beta.

About the Author

David Jenkins

Blogger

David Jenkins ([email protected]) is a freelance writer and journalist working in the UK. As well as being a regular news contributor to Gamasutra.com, he also writes for newsstand magazines Cube, Games TM and Edge, in addition to working for companies including BBC Worldwide, Disney, Amazon and Telewest.

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