Harmonix lay off 37 employees, replace CEO

The news of Harmonix’s successful Kickstarter campaign for Amplitude is now being shrouded by the unfortunate news that the developer has laid off 37 employees.

"Harmonix is in the process of restructuring our organization to bring it into alignment with our current and future product development plans. Unfortunately, this means making the difficult decision to reduce the number of full-time staff. We sincerely appreciate the work of each and every one of these employees. Harmonix is working to ensure that those affected are well taken care of as we make this change," a company spokesperson communicated to several outlets.

However, the layoffs will not affect the company’s plans to bring Amplitude to consoles as a full-fledged reboot, according to a statement made on the Kickstarter's official page.

"We realize that many of our supporters might have some questions regarding how this might affect Amplitude, and we would like to quickly take the time to address those concerns," the development team began. "Thanks to the amazing outpouring of support for the Amplitude project, we were able to reach a Kickstarter goal that would enable us to support the development staff necessary to make the game a reality.

"Simply put, our promise to our backers and fans has not changed, and the Amplitude project remains unaffected."

Along with the layoffs comes word that former chief executive officer Alex Rigopulos is moving on to a new management role within the company. Steve Janiak, former head of publishing and business operations, will take Rigopulos’ place as CEO.

Everyone at GameZone would like to wish those affected by the layoffs all the best as they try to land back on their feet.

Source: [Polygon]