Square Enix is laying off developers in the UK and US as it reworks its game development structure to focus on its studios in Japan, Video Games Chronicle reports. The mass restructuring follows the publishers’ 2024 announcement that it planned to “aggressively” apply AI to its development process.
The total number of employees being laid off isn’t yet public, but Video Games Chronicle writes that over 100 developers in the UK could be impacted, possibly up to 140. The number of US developers caught in the layoffs is still unknown. In a slide deck for investors spotted by IGN, Square Enix characterizes its “Overseas Structural Reform” as part of its goal of “consolidating development functions in Japan.” The deck also notes that Square Enix is particularly interested in automating “70 percent of QA and debugging tasks in game development by the end of 2027” with artificial intelligence, which could be one reason it’s trying to eliminate roles.
Engadget has contacted Square Enix to confirm its restructuring plans. We’ll update this article if we hear back.
Square Enix has made an ongoing number of attempts to pull out of Western game development in the last decade. The publisher appeared to play some kind of role in project cancellations at developer People Can Fly earlier this year, and before that, it initiated mass layoffs in 2024. Even earlier in 2013, Square Enix made large cuts to its US and European divisions, including selling studios like Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montréal and Crystal Dynamics to Embracer Group.
