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Sumo Group laying off 15% of staff

Sumo Group laying off 15% of staff

UK-based Sumo Group is cutting around 15% of its workforce. 

In a note to investors, the company said that it had been forced to cut costs due to the challenges facing the games industry and prepare for forthcoming challenges. That 15% of staff represents around 250 workers. Cuts are to be made across its businesses in the UK, Canada, Poland, Czechia and India. 

"Every day the incredibly talented people across Sumo studios are dedicated to creating great games and bringing ground-breaking experiences to players worldwide," the company wrote in a statement.

"That work and dedication over the past 21 years has helped to put Sumo on the map and build a family of studios that are second to none, and we are incredibly proud of what Sumo has become.

"Whilst Sumo has been able to manage through many of the recent difficulties the games industry has faced, we have not been immune and reshaping operations across the business to better navigate the upcoming challenges expected in the coming months is a path we must now take to ensure the security of the business going forward.

"The difficult decision to reduce our costs across the business in a number of ways is a direct result of these challenges, and unfortunately will include a reduction in the number of people the business can support. Every alternate route to limit the impact to our people is being considered but sadly this process of transformation will affect up to 15% of our people across the Group in Canada, UK, Poland, Czech Republic and India.

"This is an incredibly challenging process to go through for everyone at Sumo and our focus is now on supporting our people and working with our partners on their games as we move forward to ensure we emerge from this difficult time, ready for the future."

Sumo Group was acquired by Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent in 2021 for $1.27 billion. 


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.