SCEA Sony San Diego has been blasting out a few layoffs as well. Recently last week in cinematics group and a big one back in Oct/Nov 07'... tuff times it seems but so much profit? - Anon

no one wants to pay western devs anymore. the failure of so many studios mixed with the hard push by thq and others to move into china makes good business sense but is horrible for US and western developers who created this industry.

Agree! Seems the No.1 future stable game career now is "outsource manager". Pack up the crayola's, cartesian coordinate system and wacom tab it's all about excel. - Anon

I used to work at Cranky Pants (renamed to Sandblast to disassociate) and this shutdown is long overdue. The studio was run by a total incompetent who was a jerk to the crew and his inability to manage a project led to numerous delays, bugs, and a staff that turned over every few months. Sad to see it go, because you could pick up trained people very quickly who would gain quick experience, polish their skills and then get out. Bout time. This has nothing to do with overseas studios. Maybe ThQ should change their focus from mediocre games to good ones and demand execs who can actually run a company.

Unfortunately, everything the above poster said is true. In my opinion the straw that broke the team's back was a years worth of mandatory 12 hour days. Sure, there were small breaks from the overtime, but it was a long and grueling grind. Forced crunch while being understaffed and a shifting finish line led to the departure of many of the senior staff. The majority of those left are quite talented and would be a great addition to any dev team.

Condolences to those affected, sounds like a really hard time. If it helps, Turn 10 is hiring, in the same general vicinity:
http://forzamotorsport.net/news/announcements/turn_10_hiring.htm