Layoff Season Continues With 20% Of NCSoft West Being Let Go, CEO Splits

Layoff season – which unfortunately seems to start before Christmas – appears to be running a little longer this year. At least, at NCSoft West it is. According to several tweets from those in the industry, NCSoft West has been subjected to a round of layoffs that impact both the UK and UK offices.

As pointed out in a post on MassivelyOP, NCSoft West was doing pretty well last year – what with profits from mobile games and the Lineage franchise. Guild Wars 2 didn’t do too badly either. But, as we all know, high profits aren’t a deterrent from companies laying people off and losses elsewhere, like Blade & Soul, might be an excuse to do it anyway. While sad, I don’t think anyone should be shocked that a big company looks at profits over people.

That said, news of the layoffs broke due to individuals tweeting about them, expressing their sympathy for fellow industry employees. Some offered assistance, while others linked job listings at other companies.

According to VentureBeat, 20% of NCSoft West’s workers were laid off. Included in that 20% was CEO Jeff Anderson. An official statement issued by the company declares that it primarily affects “non-game development” positions, to “[realign] with [their] corporate headquarters in Korea.

Hopefully those laid off won’t have too hard of a time finding new gigs. According to the company’s statement, they were given severance packages as well as “access to resources to help with job placement”. NCSoft West did not provide details on the severance packages offered.