Harmonix lays off 37 staff as studio shuffles executives

Music-focused game development studio Harmonix has let go of 37 employees in an organizational restructure.

In a statement to Joystiq, a Harmonix spokesperson explained 37 full-time positions have been eliminated to bring things into alignment with current and upcoming plans.

"Harmonix is in the process of restructuring our organization to bring it into alignment with our current and future product development plans. Unfortunately, this means making the difficult decision to reduce the number of full-time staff."

The layoffs reportedly will not affect Harmonix’s recent Kickstarter success Amplitude and other upcoming effort Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved.

"We sincerely appreciate the work of each and every one of these employees. Harmonix is working to ensure that those affected are well taken care of as we make this change.”

The restructure also involved some movement at the top of the company: CEO Alex Rigopulos is stepping down from the lead role to take over as Chief Creative Officier, while publishing and business operations division head Steve Janiak takes over as the company’s new CEO.