Sega Studios Australia axes 37

As work winds down on Sega's London 2012 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, the Brisbane-based studio behind it--Sega Studios Australia--is restructuring its business and shedding 37 staff members.

The layoffs come in the wake of a decision to take the studio in a different direction, aimed more at digital marketplaces. Sega Studios Australia has already signed a multi-product deal focusing on digital platforms but has remained tight lipped as to what sort of projects it has in the works.

In a statement to GameSpot AU, Sega Studios Australia said, "As part of this focus on digital avenues, there is a requirement to restructure the studio resources accordingly, and regrettably, we are announcing the loss of 37 staff. The decision to downsize was not taken lightly, but this strategic restructure will ensure we have a more effective and agile team that will enable us to quickly adapt to consumer needs and deliver strong content across multiple digital platforms. We thank those team members affected for their contributions and wish them well in their future endeavours. We are very confident that their efforts on London 2012 will help us deliver the highest quality official Olympic video game to date."

London 2012 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games is currently slated for release in June and is set to contain around 30 different events for players to compete in. Before moving onto the Olympics project, Sega Studios Australia worked on the poorly reviewed Stormrise.