A week after being sold to parent company Sega, Relic Entertainment, the studio behind "Company of Heroes," announced it was laying off employees.

"Earlier today, we shared details about the layoffs with Relicans," the studio wrote on LinkedIn.

"Laying off employees was not an easy decision and was made solely to provide Relic with the best chance of survival in an increasingly volatile industry. In no way does this reflect on the expertise, passion, or character of the affected employees."

According to Relic, employees who are laid off will receive "severance, enhanced benefits, and outplacement options." The number of people being laid off was not specified, but in a separate posting, outside development producer Robyn Smale put the number at 41.

The layoffs come less than a year after 121 employees were laid off at Relic as part of a restructuring aimed at "maximizing focus on the core franchise." Overall, the two layoffs represent a very deep workforce reduction at Relic: in 2019, the studio had just under 250 employees and was aiming to grow to about 330 over the next five years, according to a Daily Hive report.

"This is not trimming fat, this is cutting to the bone," senior game producer Aryon Billings, one of the employees released in the layoffs, said on LinkedIn. [It's a sad outcome for a studio with a 27-year history of producing games like "Homeworld," "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War," "Space Marine," and "Company of Heroes," and while we don't want to read too much into it, "the best chance for survival Saying that the cutbacks are necessary to provide "the best chance" does not inspire confidence in its long-term future; it is hard to imagine that a studio as prestigious as Relic could simply close up store, but under these circumstances and in the current industry environment, it no longer seems out of the question.

"To those who are saying goodbye, we deeply regret that this has happened. Thank you for all you have done for our studio and our project."