Layoffs hit Trion Worlds after company sold

Trion Worlds, the game developer and publisher known for MMOs like Rift, Defiance and ArcheAge, laid off many of its employees this week in the wake of a sale of the company.

According to unconfirmed reports, Trion Worlds and its games have been purchased by Gamigo, a Hamburg, Germany-based publisher of free-to-play online and mobile games in Europe and North America. We’ve reached out to Trion for confirmation on details of that sale.

An official statement says that Trion Worlds has been sold and its game lineup will continue to operate under new ownership. Here is the company’s statement, which was posted to the Rift forums earlier today:

Greetings -- We can confirm that there has been a transaction involving Trion Worlds and its games.

While many of the names and faces you’ve come to know in our studios will remain on through this transition, others will not be making the journey. To those who are leaving us, we are forever grateful for your incredible work and contributions over the years.

We’d like to assure our communities that the games will continue on in capable hands moving forward, as everyone involved is aiming to make this transition as smooth as possible for you. We will have more information to reveal as soon as we possibly can.

From the bottom of all of our hearts, we thank you for your time and dedication to our games and hope that you’ve enjoyed the experience as much as we have. From spending time with you in game, to seeing you at conventions, to talking with you on livestreams and forums, it’s been our pleasure to be a part of this exceptional community with you since our first launch more than seven years ago.

Please know that you have our deepest gratitude. As for our games, we hope you continue to enjoy playing them far into the future!

The Trion Worlds Team

According to employees at Trion Worlds that we spoke to, employees at the company’s Redwood City, California and Austin, Texas locations have been let go, with severance. A report from Gamasutra indicates that Trion has been cut from about 200 employees to just 25.

Trion Worlds was founded in 2006 as Trion World Network by former NCsoft employees. The company’s current lineup consists of ArcheAge, Atlas Reactor, Defiance 2050, Rift and Trove.