According to an email sent to Gamasutra by a source who wishes to remain anonymous, mobile juggernaut Glu Mobile has laid off 25 people from its Portland studio, which will be shut down for good at the end of the month.
The studio had been working on a mobile ‘F2P invest express’ social game centered around a celebrity — a familiar tactic for the company that struck gold in 2014 with Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.
That game had been in development for just under two years, although it’s unclear now whether it’ll ever see the light of day.
Our anonymous tipster, who was close to the matter, explained that the Portland office was a fully functioning studio with its own engineering, art design, product management, community management, and QA departments — with most of its staff having been rescued from layoffs at Zynga two years ago.
Though unfortunate, this isn’t the first time Glu has flirted with cuts this year. Back in January the company said it would be willing to make over 100 layoffs and shutter two studios as part of a new restructuring plan intended to streamline the firm’s game dev ops.
As always, if you or someone you know have been affected by these layoffs, you can email Gamasutra to share your story confidentially.