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Activision Publishing cuts staff

Disappointing year prompts layoffs at studios including Infinity Ward and Beenox

Activision Publishing has laid off 5% of its workforce, according to a Kotaku report.

Activision Publishing's website puts its headcount at more than 4,000 people, so a 5% cut would involve at least 200 people. Kotaku reports that the cuts were distributed across the organization, from corporate offices to studios like Infinity Ward (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare) and Beenox, which handled the Infinite Warfare companion offering Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered.

Parent company Activision Blizzard posted record financial results yesterday, but Activision Publishing saw revenues tumble 22% year-over-year on a disappointing performance from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.

"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," a representative told Kotaku.

Looking ahead, this year will see Activision release the Bungie-developed Destiny 2 and a new Call of Duty that promises to ditch Infinite Warfare's space setting and take the series "back to its roots."

One thing the publisher doesn't have in 2017 is a new Skylanders game. Instead of releasing a new sequel as it has done each year since the series' inception, Activision will continue to support last year's Skylanders: Imaginators with new characters and adventure packs, as well as a port for the Nintendo Switch.

[CORRECTION]: This article originally said that Activision's Treyarch studio had been impacted by layoffs. The studio was unaffected, and we regret the error.

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Brendan Sinclair

Managing Editor

Brendan joined GamesIndustry.biz in 2012. Based in Toronto, Ontario, he was previously senior news editor at GameSpot in the US.