Blue Fang lays off staff

Zoo Tycoon studio Blue Fang has laid off around ten members of staff.

The company had a partnership in place with educational software firm The Learning Company, with several employees working on games in this project. These developers have reportedly been laid off.

A source initially revealed the news to Gamasutra before Blue Fang CEO Hank Howie confirmed the lay-offs to Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner. The latter posted the details on Twitter.

Howie said around ten developers working on The Learning Company games were made redundant, leaving 20 remaining at Blue Fang. However, he said the company will continue to develop new games.

Gamasutra’s source claims several workers were laid off weeks ago when funding from The Learning Company had been cut, amounting to around 25 job cuts in total.

Blue Fang developed the Zoo Tycoon series and has built Facebook games such as The Oregon Trail and Carmen Sandiego. It has also released games for iOS platforms and Kindle.