James Bond Studio Makes Huge Layoffs

Derby-based game developer Eurocom has announced that it will lose over 150 of its staff as the company faces a major "restructuring."

The studio, which has recently been responsible for James Bond game 007 Legends will now less than fifty employees and focus on mobile games.

In an official statement to Game Industry, studio director Hugh Binns said that a "steep decline" in console game sales had contributed to Eurocom's financial difficulties:

"Eurocom are undertaking a restructuring which I regret to say has meant we've made the majority of our workforce redundant today," explained Binns. "This includes many very experienced, talented and highly skilled employees, and we'd like to thank them all for your hard work and efforts.

"We've fought to try and save as many jobs as possible, but the steep decline in demand for console games, culminating in a number of console projects falling through in the last week, left us with no option. Eurocom has retained a core staff of just under 50 employees and will be focusing mainly on mobile opportunities moving forward."

Eurocom was founded in 1988 and has since developed a reputation for making film and television programme tie-in games. Since releasing James Bond Jr. in 1991, the company has created several games based on James Bond, including 007: Nightfire for the PS2 and the recent reboot of Goldeneye for the Nintendo Wii. It's most recent game, 007 Legends, was poorly received by critics.

The Derby Telegraph has reported that exactly 155 employees have been made redundant from Eurocom, with only 42 workers left at the company. Eurocom has also filed a job vacancy for a new financial administrator.