Turbine lays off employees. The US development studio is behind the fantasy MMO Lord of the Rings Online.
According to the US magazine massively, there are layoffs at Turbine, the creators behind the somewhat outdated Free2Play MMO Lord of the Rings Online. The layoffs came to attention through a tweet from former community manager Nick Heaton. He mentioned that he is thinking of his friends at Turbine and Lord of the Rings Online.
Thinking of my friends at #Turbine and #LOTRO and elsewhere today. I’m easy to find if you need me.
— Rick Heaton (@rickheaton) October 15, 2014
Massively asked Warner Bros. for a statement on this. They confirmed the layoffs and issued a statement.
As part of their usual business processes, they regularly review the strategic direction of the company. To invest in growth areas at Turbine, they concluded that some positions had to be eliminated. These are always difficult decisions that are not made lightly, but are necessary for Turbine to be positioned to meet existing and upcoming market challenges.
To what extent Lord of the Rings Online is affected by the layoffs is not known.
In April 2010, Turbine was acquired by Time Warner and has since been part of the US corporation Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
