Thunderful Group, the Swedish holding company that features some 30 subsidiaries including seven game developers, has announced plans to lay off 20% of its staff as part of plans “to restructure operations for strengthened long-term competitiveness.”
These investments have proven unsustainable given the current industry climate, which has resulted in the Group being particularly affected by challenging market conditions. The new management team and the board of directors have identified the need to restructure the Group and focus its efforts on the strategic assets with the best long-term prospects.
As a result of this, Thunderful Group is laying off 20% of its staff, which equates to around 100 people as the company said on its website that it has “close to 500 employees in Europe.”
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Speaking during a statement, Martin Walfisz, CEO of Thunderful Group, commented:
To ensure and strengthen the viability of the Group, we have found no alternative other than to reduce costs and focus the business on areas with the best future growth and profitability prospects.
It has been difficult to make these decisions, and it saddens me that we will have to say goodbye to many skilled colleagues and partners. Nevertheless, I am convinced that this is a necessary direction for Thunderful and that these changes will make the company a stronger player in the market.
The video games industry was hit by a huge wave of layoffs throughout 2023, with Embracer Group alone revealing it had let go of over 900 employees. Just this week, Lost Boys Interactive had reportedly seen a ‘sizable portion’ of its workforce laid off.
[Source – VGC]