DeNA, the Japanese gaming company has laid off a large number of its employees from it Vancouver studio said a company spokesperson yesterday.
“DeNA Group is continually evaluating its game development operations to ensure that it’s structured in the best possible way to deliver high-quality mobile games to consumers worldwide,” DeNA said in a statement.
“As a part of this process, we have decided to reshape the structure of our North American studio operations along with a reduction in workforce. We appreciate their contributions to DeNA and are grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them.”
Timing of the news is rather an odd one considering, the Nintendo partnership which was announced less than a month ago and also the success of Final Fantasy Record Keeper, a new mobile game that DeNA said yesterday had already seen over 1 million downloads.
DeNA insists that the moves are unrelated to both, saying, “The West will continue to be one of our core markets for our mobile gaming business, and this decision has no relation to our alliance with Nintendo or the popularity of Final Fantasy Record Keeper.”
David Phan, the product manager at DeNA Studios Canada, confirmed the layoffs in a social media post.
“Today is a sad day as DeNA West as many of us, myself included, were laid off as part of a significant staff reduction,” Phan said. “There are many of us who are great at what we do and are passionate about our work. There’s a lot of good people ready to start new opportunities. Please consider bringing on board some these ex-DeNAers, as they will contribute great things to your team.”