Braben on Frontier layoffs: ‘We’re rebalancing our teams’

David Braben, founder of Frontier Developments, has clarified some of the details around last night’s shock news that the firm’s Nova Scotia studio is to be closed.

We reported last night that 15 members of staff were laid off here in the UK, while development is being moved away from the Canadian branch, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Develop reached out to Frontier to find out more about the layoffs, and whether this would affect the £3.75m contracts to make new games for a global publisher.

"We’re moving development from Halifax to Cambridge, but we don’t yet know which or how many of the team members will choose to relocate," Braben told Develop.

"It is unrelated to any contracts, but it is because we are rebalancing our teams for the exciting games we have planned."

It’s still not 100 per cent clear whether the Nova Scotia studio has completely shut down, but it sounds likely.

Frontier recently launched Elite: Dangerous, which remains its main focus along with newly-announced Coaster Park Tycoon. The firm is also working on new IP ScreamRide for Xbox One.