PopCap, THQ and Funcom hit with layoffs

It's been a fairly dark day for the video game industry today as three major companies have announcedlayoffsaffecting dozens of people.

First it was revealed that layoffs have hit EA's PopCap casual gaming imprint with 50 employees reportedly (not official numbers yet) fired at the Seattle studio with the Dublin and Shanghai studios also being sized up for potential cuts as well. Specific numbers are not currently available. PopCap Co-founder John Vechey has posted a word about the layoffs on the PopCap website which can be viewed here.

Funcom, the developer behind The Secret World and Age of Conan also revealed layoffs today though they were not willing to reveal specifics. They have merely said that measures are being taken to reduce the operating cost of The Secret World using temporary layoffs and "other measures." Finally, THQ has also laid off about twenty people from its marketing department.

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The barrage of layoffs comes just days after OnLive was folded into a new corporation, leaving behind a huge amount of its original staff.