2K confirms Civilization 7 developer Firaxis Games has laid off an unspecified number of employees
The developer behind the Civilization series, XCOM, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Firaxis Games, has been hit with another wave of layoffs in September 2025, adding to the wave of job cuts happening across the gaming industry.
The layoffs at Firaxis Games have been officially confirmed by publisher 2K, though the exact number of employees terminated remains unknown. The news first came to light via social media posts from affected developers.
Staff members like senior quality assurance tester Logan Blackwood, lead character artist Matthew Davis, producer Maya H., and artist Daniella Zeman, also detailed their job cuts online.
A writer working for Firaxis games announced on LinkedIn:
“I was affected by the layoffs at Firaxis, and am open to full-time writing work at your studio. I’m an incredibly adaptable writer who wrote on Civilization VII and Marvel’s Midnight Suns during my nearly five years at the studio. I encourage you to keep an eye out for my former colleagues who were also laid off.”
A 2K spokesperson officially confirmed the job cuts to Rock Paper Shotgun in a statement:
“We can confirm there was a staff reduction today at Firaxis Games, as the studio restructures and optimizes its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity.”
The layoffs come in the wake of a tumultuous period for Firaxis, specifically following the release of Civilization VII in February 2025, which was received with mixed reviews from players and critics.
The game’s UI and the divisive New Ages system were heavily critiqued. According to SteamDB, Civilization VII has a Mixed user score with a Steam rating of 47.30%, meaning 24,643 of the total 46,667 reviews are negative.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledges the struggle of Civilization VII at launch, though he stated it was the norm for the series. Despite Firaxis Games’ efforts to improve the game via community feedback, including the addition of more content, the game continues to underperform, a factor which might have contributed to the restructuring.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns released in 2022 and received a Very Positive rating on Steam, with 81.4% positive reviews. Despite its critical acclaim however, the game was deemed a commercial flop as the game fell short of sales expectations, attributed to a complex DLC structure and a poor release window.
