THQ cuts jobs in marketing, production

THQ has had another round of layoffs. The publisher today confirmed for GameSpot that it instituted a round of cuts in non-development positions this week.

"THQ confirms a realignment has taken place in the company's marketing and production groups in Agoura Hills," a representative told GameSpot. "This change is reflective of the company's ongoing strategy to create a more focused, agile, and digitally oriented organization. Less than 3 percent of the company's global workforce was impacted, and no development teams or projects were affected by this action."

3D Realms co-founder and frequent layoff reporter George Broussard yesterday posted an email purportedly sent to THQ staffers by company president Jason Rubin. In the email, Rubin said about 20 people were laid off. He gave additional context for the move, saying, "As you know, it is my vision for THQ to enter into new markets through new distribution methodologies, and reaching those consumers in those markets will take a different approach to marketing. It is also vitally important that we improve our production methodologies and oversight so that we are shipping better titles, on budget and on time."

Earlier this year, the publisher laid off hundreds as part of a restructuring to exit the children's licensed game market, and then changed its long-awaited massively multiplayer online role-playing game Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online to a standard RPG in light of "changing market dynamics and the additional investment required to complete the game as an MMO." That move led to 118 more layoffs. Other notably negative THQ news this year included the publisher selling off the UFC license to Electronic Arts (a move that also included layoffs), canceling the Guillermo del Toro-Volition collaboration inSane, and dropping Tomonobu Itagaki's Devil's Third from its lineup.