NCsoft lays off "around 60" at Carbine Studios

NCsoft-owned Carbine Studios, which was founded in 2005 and released its first game, sci-fi MMO Wildstar, earlier this year, has unfortunately laid off "around 60" employees as part of a larger "restructuring of key operations" at NCsoft West, which also saw additional cuts.

A source speaking to Polygon noted that Carbine was especially hard hit in the NCsoft restructuring and that the layoffs affected all levels of staff (junior and senior) at the developer. Guild Wars developer ArenaNet was apparently the one NCsoft studio that remained unscathed by the cuts.

"Today we announced a restructuring of key operations within NC West. As a result of this restructuring, we are implementing staff reductions across our Western operations with the exclusion of ArenaNet. While decisions like this are always hard, they are necessary as we begin the implementation of a new strategy designed to strengthen our footing as a leader in global entertainment," NCsoft said in a statement.

"Moving forward, we will continue to focus on our core development capabilities and the intellectual properties (WildStar, Aion, Lineage, and Guild Wars franchises) that have made NCsoft what it is today. However, we are looking to move into new business segments like mobile and tablet games as well as explore emerging technologies," the company continued. "Again, the decision to reduce staff was not an easy one, and we sincerely wish everyone well in their next endeavors."