Dead Island 2 is one of the biggest releases to come out this year, but this doesn’t mean all companies involved will be celebrating. In fact, one of its publishers is making some big decisions involving “restructuring”. Plaion alongside Deep Silver is responsible for publishing the open-world zombie game, and is making a change in the company involving dropping certain names and letting certain people go. Whether this is related to the performance of Dead Island 2 following its release or this something that the company has been planning for a while is still unveiling itself.
Plaion Restructuring and Layoffs
Plaion has been a big player in the gaming market for some time now with notable titles such as Saints Row, Outward, and Chorus under its belt. Their most recent release done with the help of their child company Deep Silver, is Dead Island 2. Despite the game’s critical and commercial success, Plaion is moving forward with a restructuring plan.
According to details covered by Gamespot, the plan involves merging brands and laying off an undisclosed number of workers. One of the major moves is that Plaion will be removing the names of Deep Silver, Prime Matter, and Reavenscourt from its label, instead choosing to publish under its own name.
It’s unclear how this will affect the jobs and what sorts of positions will be eliminated, but the ones that remain will be transformed as a result.
This isn’t the only major change that Plaion has undergone, having recently changed its name from Koch Media just last year. The company claims that the purpose of this plan is to release higher quality titles albeit a smaller volume of them. However, it does leave the status of current ongoing projects up in the air considering the merger. Notable examples include the upcoming System Shock remake and Payday 3, which are still on track to be published under Ravenscourt until the plan fully takes effect.
Plaion has experienced a lot of success, but now it appears to be focusing on its branding. Though the claims that merging its labels to improve game quality seems sensible, it doesn’t change the fact that many people’s jobs will change if they aren’t removed altogether.
