Confirmed: Layoffs Hit Stardock After Elemental's "Disastrous Launch" [Updated]

[Update 10:30pm] Stardock CEO Brad Wardell has confirmed the layoffs in a forum post, attributing the cuts to Elemental's updated revenue projections following its launch.

"Elemental's revenue was anticipated to provide the revenue both for our main games team's next project as well as a second team," writes Wardell. "Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen so we've had to start laying people off."

"No one involved on the core components of Elemental is affected," he continues. "It would be great if we can bring as many of these people back over time if the studio can afford it."

Brad notes that this is the first time the company has had to lay anyone off since 1998 after migrating from the OS/2 market to Windows.

[Original Story] Shacknews has received an anonymous tip claiming that several employees of Stardock, developers of the recently released Elemental: War of Magic were let go today in a round of layoffs.

Those let go included developers, designers, and salespeople working on Elemental. The tipster, supposedly one of those laid off, claims that the layoffs were due to Elemental's "disastrous launch". Though post-launch layoffs are common in this industry, it sounds like these cuts were due to the game's launch and reception.

Stardock CEO Bard Wardell, posting while on his post-launch sabbatical, discusses the "completeness of Stardock's fail on Elementa's launch" and alluded to "massive consequences for Stardock's game studio."

The employees were reportedly notified by Stardock management, as Brad is away from the office. Shacknews has contacted Stardock to ascertain the validity of these statements.

Our write-up on the game can be found here.