After layoffs at Irrational, EA and Sony’s Santa Monica Studios in recent weeks, it’s Square Enix’s turn this week. The company has laid off 27 staff from Eidos Montreal, the studio behind Thief and Deus Ex. After the rumour was reported on Kotaku, Square Enix confirmed it in a statement:

“Yes it is true we’ve let 27 people go today, unfortunately it’s something that every major studio has to do sometimes in order to ensure you have the right set up for current and future projects. It’s never a nice thing to do but we are genuinely trying to offer as much support as much as we can. We’re trying to re-locate as many people as possible into other roles here or at our other studios and we’ve been in touch several studios in Montreal to arrange a career day for those affected by this. We’re very thankful for all their hard work and we sincerely wish them well.”

While it’s suspected that Theif‘s lengthy and troubled development contributed to the staff cuts, the studio also cancelled an unannounced collaboration with Square Enix’s Japanese studio late last year. As always, we here at Rocket Chainsaw towers extend our condolences to those affected by these cuts, and hopes they can find new positions within the industry quickly.