THQ lays off 20 non-development staff in ongoing corporate restructuring

THQ recently laid off "about 20 individuals" from its production and marketing departments, according to a leaked internal, companywide memo from president Jason Rubin.

THQ recently laid off "about 20 individuals" from its production and marketing departments, according to an internal, companywide memo from president Jason Rubin leaked by 3D Realms' George Broussard.

The affected employees were let go from the company's headquarters in Agoura Hills, CA. A THQ representative confirmed the cuts, and the authenticity of Rubin's email, in a statement to Polygon. According to THQ, "Less than 3 percent of the company's global workforce" — just under 900 employees worldwide — "was impacted, and no development teams or projects were affected by this action."

The layoffs reflect the publisher's continuing shifting of resources toward development teams and new distribution avenues, a focus for Rubin since his hiring in May. In his email to THQ staff, Rubin emphasized that the cuts were made for streamlining purposes, and that they should not affect the company's ability to ship games: "We do not anticipate the reduction to have any impact whatsoever on the titles in production or the future scale of our output."

Rubin also pointed out that the production and marketing departments were "largely unaffected" by the company's January cuts, when it let go 240 corporate employees worldwide. "This represents a shift of resources from oversight to production, and from centralization out to the teams," said Rubin. It is vital, Rubin explained, "that we improve our production methodologies and oversight so that we are shipping better titles, on budget and on time."

He continued, "It is also quite likely that in the long run the company will hire new individuals with different skill sets in their stead." As corporate employees leave, THQ's internal studios are staffing up. According to Rubin, Volition expects to add 20 developers to its team within the next year. The studio is working on the next Saints Row game, a full sequel, and is currently hiring for positions on an unannounced current-generation game as well as next-generation titles.