Trion Worlds reportedly lays off 200+ staff following acquisition

Trion Worlds has reportedly laid off the "vast majority" of its staff.

According to a Gamasutra source, the layoffs came as a result of the company’s acquisition by Gamigo, which was formally announced earlier today.

It’s believed that over 200 staff have been affected, with just 25 offered the chance to remain as part of a skeleton crew.

A statement from Trion Worlds confirmed "there has been a transaction involving Trion Worlds and its games", but while it did not comment on the scale of the redundancies, it stated via email: "while many of the names and faces you’ve come to know in our studios will remain on through this transition, others will not be making the journey. To those who are leaving us, we are forever grateful for your incredible work and contributions over the years."

Trion’s director of community relations, Linda Carlson, also confirmed the report via the company’s official forums and Discord server that "a great many of us are packing to leave today".

"Trion has new owners and I trust that they will treat you well, as you all deserve," she added. "We’d like to assure our communities that the games will continue on in capable hands moving forward, as everyone involved is aiming to make this transition as smooth as possible for you. We will have more information to reveal as soon as we possibly can."

According to a press release from Gamigo, Trion was acquired via an "Assignment for the Benefit of the Creditors" process, in which the buyer only buys those assets it wants to continue the business. Gamigo acquired the majority of the assets, "including the platform" and "takes over employees to operate the business and gets the full publishing rights of the games".

Trion Worlds’ intellectual properties have now been acquired by Gamigo’s sister company, Padmapani GmbH.

Trion was founded in 2006 and is best known for its MMO games, including Defiance, Rift, and Trove

About Vikki Blake

It took 15 years of civil service monotony for Vikki to crack and switch to writing about games. She has since become an experienced reporter and critic working with a number of specialist and mainstream outlets in both the UK and beyond, including Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, IGN, MTV, and Variety.

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