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Jam City has reportedly laid off "a large number of employees" in a bid to reallocate sources to "support the goals of [its] global business".
VentureBeat reports that while it’s unclear how many staff the Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery developer has let go, an anonymous source acknowledged it was "a large number" of staff from across all departments in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. It’s thought Jam City currently employs 650+ employees globally.
Former Jam City executive producer, Rachel DiPaola, confirmed the news on LinkedIn, stating: "Hey peeps — Sad to say that I was part of a layoff at Jam City today. Ironically, it’s my one year anniversary of working there! So — on to the next adventure. Please let me know if you have any leads for me. And I’m OK — it’s just biz."
"Jam City rolled out organizational changes today that altered some teams and staff positions," the company said in a statement to VB. "We are re-allocating resources to support the goals of our global business. This is an extremely difficult decision, and Jam City is making these changes with the utmost respect for every person affected. We are providing exit packages and other types of transition assistance to impacted employees."
Jam City declined to confirm how many people have been affected by the changes.
The news comes just weeks after Jam City announced a long-term partnership with Disney and acquired Glendale Games Studio, and mere days after the company confirmed it had acquired Uken Games and its Bingo Pop franchise. Chris Ye – CEO of Yuken Games – confirmed at the time that 42 of Yuken’s 110 staff would be moved to Jam City’s team in Toronto, Canada, but it’s not known if they are part of the 650+ global staff who may have been affected by the layoffs.
