It is perhaps not that uncommon after a major title is shipped to see some additional help let go. Extra hands are brought on during development that are suddenly no longer needed once the game is released. It may be a common occurrence but it is no less sad to hear.

The latest round of layoffs have impacted 27 people at Eidos Montreal, the development studio behind Thief and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Square Enix confirmed the unfortunate news today with RPS.
“Yes it is true we’ve let 27 people go today, unfortunately it’s something that every major studio has to do sometimes in order to ensure you have the right set up for current and future projects. It’s never a nice thing to do but we are genuinely trying to offer as much support as much as we can. We’re trying to re-locate as many people as possible into other roles here or at our other studios and we’ve been in touch several studios in Montreal to arrange a career day for those affected by this. We’re very thankful for all their hard work and we sincerely wish them well.”

Best of luck to all of those affected by these layoffs.