US publishing giant 2K Games has made over 80 staff at BioShock developer Cloud Chamber. 

That's according to Bloomberg, which reports that this represents around a third of workers at the studio. This news comes amid a restructuring at Cloud Chamber, part of which involves industry veteran Rod Fergusson being brought in to helm the studio and its in-development project. 

In a memo to staff – shared with Eurogamer – 2K president David Ismailer (pictured) said that it was reducing the size of the dev team on BioShock, adding that it wanted to "rework certain aspects" of the project. 

"BioShock is woven deeply into the fabric of 2K," he told staff. "It's one of our most beloved franchises and respecting its legacy and meeting our fans' expectations is critical to its future success.

"Work on the next BioShock game has been underway for several years. While we're excited about the foundational gameplay elements of the project, we've made the decision with studio leadership to rework certain aspects that are core to a BioShock game, and in doing so are reducing the size of the development team to focus on this work and give the game more time in development.

"I know this is tough news for everyone. If your role is being affected, you'll hear from your manager or studio leadership today with details on severance, career services and support resources. There is no easy way to do this, but we hope to do whatever we can to support you through this. I want to thank each of you for your dedication and hard work."