Social gaming developer and publisher Kabam will cut jobs at its Austin offices after shutting down Imperium: Galactic War, a free-to-play strategy game with a sci-fi setting that came out earlier this year. Twenty-three employs face layoffs, according to Gamasutra.
The title just wasn’t performing well enough, according to corporate communications VP Steve Swasey. “Games have to be able to show promise and show future,” Swasey told Gamasutra. “If a game doesn’t, then we discontinue it. That’s not atypical of games companies. It’s sad, but you need games that are continually hits.”
Swasey tried to downplay the layoffs, telling Gamasutra that Kabam still has over 650 employees worldwide and that the job losses are only the result of Imperium’s lack of success. It was the only game developed at the Austin branch, which still has around 45 employees.