LEGO today sent out an email to media explaining that, despite relatively good reviews and 2 million players, the company has not been able to make enough money to sustain its MMOG, LEGO Universe.

The company also announced that, as a result, it will be letting 115 employees go.

From the press release it sounds as if the company is instead focusing efforts on other games. LEGO Universe launched Fall 2010 with a limited trial followed by a paid monthly subscription required to play. It recently switched to a freemium model, allowing anyone to play for free but with additional items and extended content costing real money.

Rock Studios, the developer of Split Second, is going through layoffs. Around 40 will be let go as the studio gets down to a single development team, according to Eurogamer. That site’s unnamed source said about half of the studio’s employees haven’t had a project to work on since December 2010. Split Second debuted in May 2010 to favorable reviews but tepid sales.

Raven Software, the developer behind the X-Men Legends games and recent first-person shooter Singularity, has laid off around 40 employees. Raven has been scaling its workforce back considerably since Activision acquired it in 1997..

With the global economy going through hard times, most markets have been affected and unfortunately video games are not the exception. Sales are falling behind this year compared to 2008 and the holiday season is sure to bring a fierce price battle amongst the main retailers.

Not even the big companies are being spared from the effects of the economy. Video game giant Electronic Arts has decided to close Pandemic Studios, one of its recently acquired studios. This decision was part of a plan to cut 1,500 jobs in an effort to restructure the company.

Another fellow video game site has fallen prey to the fangs of this global economic, recession, er, downturn.

The latest is GameCyte, a site similar to ours in that it also wrote about the wonderment of video games and gaming culture. It’s certainly sad to see another game site go.

Here’s an email sent from the site’s now former editor, Sean Hollister, on March 9, 2009…

THQ’s PR department sent an email earlier today to various media outlets regarding recent layoffs. It was a reaction to “some inaccurate reporting out there” and indicates that 236 full-time staffers will remain while 39 full-timers will be laid off and 47 temporary staffers will “not be having their service extended.”

As bad as EA thought it was, now it’s worse. The company posted a $641 million loss for the holiday quarter ending December 31, 2008, as opposed to $33 million for the same period in 2007.

GameDaily reports the publisher will lay off 1,100 and close 12 facilities. In addition to the forecast of a loss for fiscal year 2009, EA expects to incur restructuring charges of $65-75 million, including paying severance to employees and closing facilities. You know it’s a bloodletting when…

When word of massive layoffs at Microsoft broke, the question of what impact the entertainment division would suffer hadn’t been answered. Now we’re learning those answers and the news isn’t good.

VentureBeat confirms that Microsoft’s game studios were hit hard. The studio ACES, known for Microsoft’s long-running Flight Simulator series, got shut down. That team was working on Microsoft Train Simulator as well. Apparently 30 percent of the company’s…

Microsoft’s decision to trim the fat from its workforce has caught the attention of key government officials;. In fact, one is openly questioning their methods and rationale for doing so.

This individual is Charles Grassey, a Republican senator from Iowa. His reasons for inquiry stem from a concern that foreign guest workers will be retained in the company rather than qualified American workers once the company implements its layoff plan.

Essentially, Grassey wants to make sure that not too many Americans are…

As further proof that the weakening worldwide economy is taking its toll on everyone, Microsoft announced Thursday (January 22, 2009) it is cutting 5,000 jobs. The computing giant has made limited staff cuts after purchasing other companies but these are the first actual layoffs in Microsoft’s history.

The layoffs are the result of an 11 percent drop in second-quarter profits, but CEO Steve Ballmer refused to call this a “recession.” Instead…