Firaxis Cuts Staff Despite 'Civilization 7' Sales Meeting Forecasts

Firaxis, the developer of Civilization VII, has laid off an unspecified number of staff today, despite Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stating that the game's sales are in line with projections.

Several Firaxis team members announced on social media that they were let go, including employees from production, narrative design, and art departments. Civilization VII publisher 2K confirmed the layoffs to Game Developer, explaining the studio is restructuring and refining its development process to enhance "adaptability, collaboration, and creativity." The exact number of affected employees was not disclosed.

Civilization VII launched earlier this year and has received a mixed reception on Steam. Players have raised concerns about the user interface, limited map variety, and missing features. Firaxis has since rolled out multiple updates to address these areas.

Meanwhile, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two (2K’s parent company), noted that while Civilization VII had a "slow start," the company's projections for the game's long-term performance still align with initial expectations.

“The important point is that Civilization has always been a gradual success. It's consistently been a title with staying power—even though I'm generally cautious about the long-tail theory in entertainment, Civilization actually fits that model. Our estimates for the game's lifetime value remain consistent with our original forecasts.

“We did start slower than expected and have already implemented changes—with more on the way—but we're seeing steadily growing player engagement. We're confident in the title's future and believe it will eventually earn its place among the most respected entries in the Civilization series.”