Sega
has
announced
a
new
round
of
layoffs
that
will
hit
Sega
Europe,
Creative
Assembly
and
Hardlight.
But
the
biggest
news
is
the
sale
of
Relic
Entertainment.
According
to
Sega,
Relic
Entertainment,
probably
best
known
for
Company
of
Heroes
and
Age
of
Empires,
is
being
sold
to
a
newly
established
holding
company
owned
by
UK
investment
company
Emona
Capital
LLP.
However,
the
buyer
requested
that
details
of
the
sale
not
be
disclosed
so
we
currently
don’t
know
how
much
Relic
has
been
sold
for.
In
May
2023,
Sega
laid
off
121
employees
at
Relic.
Advertisements
“We
have
an
important
announcement
for
our
players
and
fans.”
reads
Relic’s
official
statement.
“With
an
external
investor,
Relic
Entertainment
will
become
an
independently-run
development
studio.
This
is
a
huge
change
for
us,
but
one
thing
does
not
change:
we
want
to
create
amazing
experiences
for
our
players.”
Relic
confirmed
that
they
will
continue
to
support
their
existing
titles
such
as
Company
of
Heroes
3
which
will
get
its
1.6
update
in
April.
The
sale
of
Relic
is
due
to
SEGA
making
substantial
cuts
to
its
European
studios,
resulting
in
another
240
employees
losing
their
jobs.
This
is
after
the
250
people
that
were
cut
last
year.
The
majority
of
these
cuts
will
apparently
be
at
Creative
Assembly,
the
studio
that
creates
the
Total
War
games.
This
is
presumably
because
the
Total
War
series
has
seen
a
decline
in
sales
over
the
past
year
or
two
The
last
game,
Total
War:
Pharoah,
struggled
to
make
an
impact,
only
reaching
a
peak
player
count
on
Steam
of
just
over
5,000.
In
December
2023,
SEGA
released
its
financial
results
and
said,
“In
the
Consumer
area,
although
we
released
some
new
titles
in
Q3,
including
Sonic
Superstars,
Endless
Dungeon,
and
Total
War:
Pharaoh,
sales
went
sluggish
during
the
holiday
sales
season,”
Meanwhile,
Like
a
Dragon:
Infinite
Wealth
and
Persona
3
have
done
extremely
well,
setting
sale
records
for
their
respective
developers.
SEGA
Europe
will
also
be
hit
by
layoffs,
as
will
Hardlight.
No
exact
numbers
were
given.
“I
want
to
sincerely
apologise
for
the
worry
and
understandable
distress
this
news
will
cause,
particularly
for
those
directly
affected.”
said
Jurgen
Post,
head
of
Sega
Europe.
“These
decisions
have
been
incredibly
tough
to
make,
and
they
follow
meticulous
consideration
and
deliberation
with
leadership
teams
across
the
business.
Change
is
necessary
to
secure
the
future
of
our
games
business,
and
to
ensure
that
we
are
well
placed
to
deliver
the
best
possible
experiences
to
our
players
going
forward.”
“We
need
to
streamline,
focus
on
what
we
are
good
at,
and
position
ourselves
as
best
we
can
for
the
road
ahead.
In
order
to
do
that,
we
need
to
respond
to
the
changing
economic
landscape
and
the
challenges
we’re
facing
in
the
way
we
develop
our
products
and
bring
them
to
market.”
While
this
is
devastating
news
for
everyone
affected,
at
least
Relic
Entertainment
will
live
to
fight
another
day.
Perhaps
this
may
end
up
being
a
new
beginning
for
the
company.
