Firaxis Cuts Jobs as Civilization 7 Sales Meet Forecasts

Firaxis Games, the developer behind Civilization VII, has laid off an unspecified number of staff today. This comes despite Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick's recent comments that the game's sales are meeting the company's projections.

Multiple Firaxis employees announced on social media that they were part of today's layoffs, spanning production, narrative, and art departments. 2K, the publisher of Civilization VII, confirmed the workforce reduction to Game Developer. The company stated the studio is undergoing a restructuring to optimize its development process for greater "adaptability, collaboration, and creativity." 2K did not disclose the exact number of affected employees.

Civilization VII launched earlier this year and has met with a mixed response on Steam. Players have cited issues with the user interface, a perceived lack of map variety, and the absence of certain anticipated features. In response, Firaxis has released several updates aimed at addressing these community concerns.

Speaking recently, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged Civilization VII had a "slow start" but emphasized the company's long-term outlook for the game remains unchanged. He stated that internal projections for the title's "lifetime value" are still aligned with initial expectations.

“The key thing to remember is that Civilization has always been a slow burn. It's a franchise that defies the usual patterns — while I'm generally not a proponent of the 'long tail' theory in entertainment, Civ is a prime example of it. Our current projections for the game's lifetime value are very much in line with what we originally anticipated.

“So, while we did have a slower launch and have had to implement changes—with more updates on the way—we are seeing improving consumer engagement. We feel very positive about the title's trajectory and believe it will ultimately earn its place as a successful and respected entry in the storied Civilization series.”