Thief developer Eidos Montreal hit with layoffs

The creators of the latest Thief instalment seem to have hit another speed bump, having confirmed that Eidos Montreal has experienced a round of layoffs

The studio issued the following statement:

Yes it is true we’ve let 27 people go today, unfortunately it’s something that every major studio has to do sometimes in order to ensure you have the right set up for current and future projects. It’s never a nice thing to do but we are genuinely trying to offer as much support as much as we can. We’re trying to re-locate as many people as possible into other roles here or at our other studios and we’ve been in touch several studios in Montreal to arrange a career day for those affected by this. We’re very thankful for all their hard work and we sincerely wish them well.

Could this be due to the latest Thief game developed for PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC, which did not receive the best reviews?

Are they preparing themselves for a loss on the title which was locked into a lengthy development cycle, or is it just the nature of the game development business to see a studio wind down non-core staff once a game has been released?