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Glu Mobile has announced that it is restructuring, outlining a plan that will result in more than 100 layoffs, and see the closure of its Bellevue studio, and potentially also its studio in Long Beach.
This was revealed in a filing posted on Seeking Alpha, and suggests that the company will be looking to get rid of 107 positions across the company, suggesting that they’ll be rehiring in India and San Fransisco to end the year with a similar headcount to the one they had before undertaking the restructuring.
Regardless, Glu are looking to shutter its operations in Bellevue, closing it’s office there. The fate of its Long Beach studio will depend on the success of Car Town Racing’s beta release, if the launch isn’t successful, Long Beach will also be closed, causing an additional 33 employees.
Glu mention in this report that this is "consistent with the actions [it took] during 2016 to streaming its operations" where it refers to the San Mateo and Beijing studios it closed in 2016.
Glu stresses this is "consistent with the actions [taken] during 2016 to streaming its operations", referring to the closure of its Beijing, San Mateo studios that were closed in 2016, as well as the closure of a separate Bellevue location.
These changes will cost Glu around $3.5m before tax if it closes the Bellevue studio, although this will increase to $5.4m if it also closes its Long Beach location.
As part of the company’s restructuring process, it’ll be handing responsibility for live operations and development on its title Racing Rivals to the mobile studio Carbonated. Glu will continue to fund development of the title, and also pay Carbonated a percentage of the profits based on how well the firm improves revenues on the title.
