Activision suffers round of layoffs after missing earnings targets

Activision had to let some staffers go in the wake of their fourth quarter earnings reports. Thanks to weak sales of more casual gaming properties, the company chose to refocus “to better align with Activision’s long-term priorities…”

The word came from Game Informer initially as they were tipped off about the layoffs. The Activision offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota, home of Game Informer, were hit with the firings.

As such, Game Informer received the official statement from Activison, part of which I referenced above. Here it is in full.

As announced on our earnings call, our games for core audiences did extremely well, but the casual audience has not yet emerged on next gen consoles. So we are refocusing to better align with Activision’s long-term priorities because, as always, our strategy evolves to keep us ahead of a rapidly-changing industry. We are working with those impacted by the changes to offer outplacement services and support.

We already know that Guitar Hero Live missed its earnings goals. Skylanders under-performed, too, thanks to other figurine based games like Disney Infinity crowding the marketplace.

We’ll follow this story further and see if any other layoffs occur. Best to those who lost their gigs, though. Here’s hoping you find work soon.