Seven employees laid off at Kokku

Only the studio’s Portuguese office is affected by the redundancies

Co-development studio Kokku has laid off seven employees from its Portugal office.

This follows an “operational review” at the branch, Pocket Gamer reported, with the operations of the studio in Brazil not affected by the situation.

“It is true that Kokku recently conducted an operational review of our Portugal studio to ensure alignment with our strategic goals as well as support structured and scalable growth,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.

“As part of this process, we carefully evaluated the studio’s operational needs, resulting in adjustments aimed at optimising resources and ensuring long-term sustainability. Regrettably, these changes have resulted in a re-alignment of job profiles and the departure of seven employees. This decision was made after thorough consideration to align the studio with our global strategy. To ensure transparency, the leadership held an all-hands meeting with the entire company, including a Q&A session, to address any questions and provide transparency.

“I want to emphasise that the studio in Portugal continues to operate as usual, and these changes will not affect our Brazilian studios.”

Kokku is a co-development studio known for its work on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Sniper Ghost Warrior, among others.

It was acquired by OV Entertainment Group earlier this year – at the time, we talked to CEO Thiago de Freitas about the vision for the newly founded company and its quest to unite Latin American games firms.

We also talked to Kokku as part of our Brazil Games Week, with De Freitas among the Brazilian developers who told us about how the new legal framework for games will change the industry in the country.