IO Interactive to cut half its staff

Computer game maker’s owner revealed staggering loses of nearly 800 million kroner back in March

IO Interactive announced the biggest lay-off round by a computer gaming company in Danish history after being forced to let go about 100 of its 200 employees yesterday.

IO Interactive, which has produced popular games such as the Hitman series and the Kan & Lynch series, will now close every project not connected to the Hitman series.

“We are making significant changes to IO Interactive due to a changing and challenging market,” Square-Enix, the company that owns IO Interactive, told gameindustry.biz yesterday. “In the future, IO will focus on the Hitman series and is preparing a new massive production. We have decided to discontinue all other productions and reduce our staff.”

The layoffs did not come as the biggest surprise. Square-Enix announced in March that it had suffered losses of 770 million kroner and would be restructuring in the near future.

“We are very grateful to those affected and we appreciate their efforts and hope to be able to place as many as possible in other areas of the company,” Square-Enix said.

While the latest instalment of the Hitman series, Absolution, was received with positive reviews when it was released last November, Square-Enix said it had not attained the commercial success it had expected.

Hannes Seiffert will be the new temporary head of IO Interactive after former head Niels Jørgensen left the company for a position at Lego.

Are you an IO employee affected by the cuts? We're interested in hearing your story. Please contact journalist Christian Wenande.

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