Sega announces major layoffs across UK studios, sells Company of Heroes maker Relic

Sega has announced some major changes to its Western gaming divisions. 240 positions across its Sega Europe, Creative Assembly, and Sega HARDlight game development studios are being cut, while developer Relic Entertainment is being sold off completely.

Sega has said most of the jobs being cut are from the Creative Assembly and Sega Europe divisions. Creative Assembly is responsible for the hit strategy franchise Total War on the PC platform, and only last year released the Ancient Egypt-set Total War: Pharaoh. The studio was also developing a AAA hero-based multiplayer project named Hyenas, which Sega canceled last year during open beta phases. It"s unclear how many of the 240 lost positions are from Creative Assembly.

"Creative Assembly continues to have multiple projects in development with Total War and a new unannounced project," adds Sega regarding the future of the studio.

At the same time, Sega confirmed that Relic Entertainment is being sold. The move will make the Company of Heroes and Dawn of War developer an independent studio, which Relic says has been accomplished with help from an "external investor." It"s unclear who this third-party investor is currently. Sega says it is "working closely with Relic on this shift, and we wish them the best for the future."

Relic has also been responsible for developing Microsoft"s latest Age of Empires entry for PC and Xbox, and support for the strategy game is still ongoing.

"To our fans, we want to assure you we will continue to support our titles, including Company of Heroes 3," says Relic in a social media post regarding the move. "We want to thank SEGA, whose support over the years and guidance during this transition have been instrumental to our success. We may be out of the SEGA business, but we remain friends and colleagues."

This is not the only major shift in ownership that happened today. Earlier, Take-Two Interactive announced it had acquired Gearbox Entertainment for $460 million.