Activision hit by layoffs, including Infinity Ward and Beenox staff

Activision Publishing has laid off a reported five percent of its workforce, according to Kotaku, with cuts coming to its corporate office, as well as Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, Spider-Man and Skylanders studio Beenox, and other internal studios.

The layoffs came in the wake of yesterday's fourth-quarter financial report, which resulted in "better-than-expected and record" results—even though the latest Call of Duty release, Infinite Warfare, did not live up to expectations.

The source indicated that roughly 20 employees of Infinity Ward were let go, while a follow-up comment says that the Beenox Q&A department was shut down entirely—a claim repeated separately by Gamasutra—although the studio itself was not affected. Blizzard and Major League Gaming were not impacted by the layoffs.

Activision issued a statement effectively confirming the layoffs, although not the actual numbers. "Activision Publishing is realigning our resources to support our upcoming slate and adapt to the accelerating transition to digital, including opportunities for digital add-on content," it said.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.