An anonymous source working for developer Capcom, along with various social media posts, have revealed that the company has laid off around fifty employees as part of a reorganization effort to aid production of the studio's next Dead Rising game.

The layoffs occurred at Capcom Vancouver, the Japanese developer's Canadian branch, which is located in the city of Burnaby. According to social media site LinkedIn, the Canadian studio had around 250 employees, which suggests that one-fifth of the workforce has now been laid off. According to the anonymous source, the loss has apparently resulted in the cancellation of an unannounced project, as well as reductions to the scope of the next planned Dead Rising title, a series which Capcom Vancouver have developed since Dead Rising 2.

The only other game the studio is known for is a mobile game called Puzzle Fighter, though it was apparently approached by Capcom to reboot the Dino Crisis series around a year ago, but ultimately turned the project down.

Dead Rising Developer Lays Off Fifty Employees

The unannounced project had apparently not yet been green-lit for development and existed solely as a rough prototype. According to the anonymous source, the game had been planned to be a third-person action-adventure game set in an alternate-reality version of New York. While games being canceled at such an early stage is common, the apparent reduction in the scope of the next Dead Rising title as a result of these layoffs could have a much more notable impact.

While Capcom Vancouver's latest Dead Rising release, Dead Rising 4, received favorable reviews, the game failed to meet its sales expectations and received a more mixed reception from fans. With that being the case, it is not entirely surprising that Capcom has decided to undertake layoffs at its Vancouver studio, or that it decided to reduce the planned scope of the next game in the series.

In recent years, Capcom has been seemingly focusing its efforts on rebooting its older titles and developing games for mobile. Unfortunately for Capcom Vancouver, it could be that the Dead Rising is now a lower priority for Capcom given the under-performance of Dead Rising 4.

Although the recent release and success of Monster Hunter: World, the first title in its series to be released on current-generation consoles, could prompt a change of direction for the Japanese developer, recent reports from Capcom suggest that the company may be turning its attention toward developing more games for the Nintendo Switch, following the success of Ultra Street Fighter 2. While it seems that, for now, there will be another Dead Rising game coming at some point in the future from Capcom Vancouver, fans of the series may have to accept that it will not be as large as they may have hoped.