Thief developer Eidos Montreal lays off 27 employees

Thief developer Eidos Montreal laid off 27 employees today, a representative for the studio confirmed to Polygon.

"Yes it is true we've let 27 people go today, unfortunately it's something that every major studio has to do sometimes in order to ensure you have the right set up for current and future projects," reads a statement from Eidos Montreal.

"It's never a nice thing to do but we are genuinely trying to offer as much support as much as we can. We're trying to re-locate as many people as possible into other roles here or at our other studios and we've been in touch [with] several studios in Montreal to arrange a career day for those affected by this," the statement continues. "We're very thankful for all their hard work and we sincerely wish them well."

Earlier this afternoon, Eidos Montreal studio head David Anfossi tweeted a photo of a companywide meeting, possibly the one in which layoffs were announced:

Eidos Montreal studio meeting! Exciting times!! pic.twitter.com/jxf1Z4dgj8

— David Anfossi (@DavidAnfossi) March 4, 2014

Thief was released last week on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The first entry in the series in nearly a decade, Thief launched to a lukewarm reception; according to Polygon reviewer Arthur Gies, "there are elements of a better game" in it, but it "never quite pulls it together." Last year, we reported on the game's protracted development and other troubles at Eidos Montreal, such as office politics and high-level departures from the development team.

Eidos Montreal is currently working on a new Deus Ex title that will lay the foundation for what the studio calls the "Deus Ex Universe."