Obsidian hit by layoffs - Report

When Obsidian Entertainment ships Dungeon Siege III in June, the independent shop will have reached the finish line on its slog to put out three games within 12 months (the other two being Alpha Protocol and Fallout: New Vegas). And as is often the case after a period of high activity, it appears as if Obsidian has rewarded its development team by enacting a round of layoffs.

According to the Twitter feeds of a handful of former Obsidian Entertainment staffers, the Irvine, California-based developer handed out pink slips last Wednesday. Akil Hooper, who served as a designer on Fallout: New Vegas, tweeted on Wednesday: "11 years, nearly a dozen shipped titles, Designer, Lead, Producer. 1 cancelled game, survived 7 layoffs, 8th got me. Not a bad track record."

As compiled in a post to Obsidian's official forums, Hooper's tweet was echoed by associate producer Jason Fader and QA tester Ashley Betters, with Justin Reynard expressing condolences to his onetime associates. A number of other former Obsidian employees--including Tess Treadwell, Joe Sanabria, and Jessica Johnson--have updated their LinkedIn profiles to indicate that they no longer hold positions at the studio.

It is unclear how many employees have been impacted by the layoffs. Obsidian did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.