NCSoft trims jobs on unannounced project at Iron Tiger Studios

NCSoft, the South Korean online game publisher that makes games like Lineage 2 and Guild Wars 2, has laid off an undisclosed number of its staff in San Mateo, California.

The team affected is part of Iron Tiger Studios, which began work a few years ago on an unannounced project. A spokesman for NCSoft confirmed that the company has done some layoffs, but did not say how many.

The San Mateo office will remain open and continue to publish mobile games such as Aion: Legions of War. The spokesman said, “I can confirm that NCSoft is reshaping Iron Tiger Studios and is in the process of transitioning development to a third-party for a mobile title.”

That game is not being canceled, but neither the project nor the external developer are being identified at this time.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.