Gameloft cut 850 positions in 2015 to boost profit

Major job cuts and reorganisation taken by Gameloft last year appears to have paid off for the mobile studio.

The Parisian outlet closed 850 positions, affecting a fifth of its workforce, as it worked to turnaround its previous financial operating loss.

As a result, its gross profit margin grew 16 per cent to reach 85 per cent, with sales similarly jumping 13 per cent to €256.2 million.

On average, 166 million users played Gameloft’s titles each month, with 21 million checking in daily.

Europe and Asia-Pacific regions were particularly strong for the company, comprising almost a third (30 per cent) of annual sales each, while North America contributed a quarter.

"Our 2015 strategic plan, which translated to a global reorganization of teams and significant cost cutting measures, has started to bear fruit,” commented Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot (via GI).

“The cost of this transformation, which affected almost 20 per cent of the company’s staff, including 850 positions closed, has weighed on the net income of the fiscal year, but has allowed us to restore Gameloft’s current operating profitability as early as the second half of 2015.

“In the early stages of a major development cycle focused on programmatic advertising, Gameloft has a new organisation centred on the efficiency and creativity of its development teams and is structurally profitable."