Redundancies as Codemasters closes Japan office

Codemasters has confirmed plans to close its Japanese office.

The Tokyo-based office is expected to shut later this month, although it isn’t yet clear how many employees will be made redundant as a result of its closure.

In a statement provided to VideoGamer.com this afternoon, Codemasters thanked the staff “for all their hard work representing Codemasters in Japan” and revealed details to partner with a “major publishing partner” in the territory.

“In line with Codemasters’ existing international distribution strategy for boxed titles, which sees our physical products being taken to market by valued publishing partners in key global territories, such as Bandai Namco for Europe and the Americas, the Company is now implementing that strategy in the Japanese market with the appointment of a major publishing partner in the region,” a Codemasters representative told VideoGamer.com.

“As a result of the move to a partnership model in Japan, Codemasters is retiring from its Tokyo office and bids farewell to Miyake San and his team who previously represented our titles in the region. We thank them for all their hard work representing Codemasters in Japan since 2008. Codemasters will announce the details of its new Japanese publishing partnership in due course.”

The closure follows a report earlier this year claiming that around 50 jobs at the company were under review, with redundancies allegedly “focused on the company’s brand and IT departments” in the UK.

“Under 20 staff” are also reported to be working on an unannounced DiRT title, a figure expected to be significantly lower than Codemasters’ previous titles.

Codemasters’ next game ‘F1 2015’ releases on PS4, Xbox One and PC in June. The game will be distributed by Bandai Namco in the UK.

Source: Codemasters, (Thanks, @lifelower)