SEGA is going to lay off some of its staff at Creative Assembly because it is aiming for a “Reduction of fixed expenses.” This is likely due to the development studio underperforming with Total War: Pharaoh. This could also be a way to get rid of the team that was working on the now-canceled Hyenas game.
A Results Presentation was released by SEGA today outlining how the company is doing and what they are planning for the future. On slide 8 entitled “Structural Reform in the Consumer Area,” the company highlights “rapidly lowered” profitability. The company also mentioned that there are “sluggish sales and increased costs.”
Lately, the go-to for companies that need to save money has been to just lay off their staff. SEGA is going that route, as just a few lines later, we see this:
“Reduction of fixed expenses (implement rationalization measures including headcount reductions, centered on Creative Assembly).”
Q2 for the Fiscal Year Ending March 2024
Results Presentation SEGASammy
Obviously, “headcount reductions” is just another way to say layoffs. This is the only time Creative Assembly was mentioned in the Results Presentation which is not good. It seems like Total War: Pharaoh didn’t give the company enough confidence in their work or did not perform as well financially as it should have. In my opinion, Total War: Pharaoh was one of the company’s worst games and I’m unsure why they keep going down this route.
Total War: Troy was not what fans wanted, in no small part due to how historically inaccurate it was, and so they developed a similar game in Total War: Pharaoh. The fans had made it clear that they didn’t want simplified Total War games, but Creative Assembly tried again and received poor reviews. It got a 6.2 user score on Meta Critic so it’s clear the fans aren’t liking the game.
How much staff will go and when is still to be seen but I’d guess we won’t see another game like Total War Pharaoh from Creative Assembly anytime soon.
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