SEGA Drops Relic Entertainment and Cuts Back Across the UK

SEGA has sold off primarily PC-based strategy game developer Relic Entertainment, and is in the process of cutting up to 240 jobs across its various UK studios. Relic, which makes the Company of War games, will become an independent studio moving forwards, and said in a short statement that it remains on good terms with its former parent company.

As mentioned above, the bulk of the job losses will be attributed to Creative Assembly and SEGA Europe, although mobile developer SEGA HARDlight will also be hit. There’s no mention of Two Point Studios or Sports Interactive, so presumably those two are safe.

“I want to sincerely apologise for the worry and understandable distress this news will cause, particularly for those directly affected,” explained new SEGA Europe boss Jurgen Post, who’s presumably experiencing a baptism of fire here. “These decisions have been incredibly tough to make, and they follow meticulous consideration and deliberation with leadership teams across the business. Change is necessary to secure the future of our games business, and to ensure that we are well placed to deliver the best possible experiences to our players going forward.”

Obviously this is just the latest in a long line of job cuts which have been ravaging the industry for well over a year now. “We need to streamline, focus on what we are good at, and position ourselves as best we can for the road ahead,” Post concluded. “In order to do that, we need to respond to the changing economic landscape and the challenges we’re facing in the way we develop our products and bring them to market.”