Nearly all of Volition's quality assurance department were laid off today in Champaign, Illinois, THQ confirmed to Kotaku.


"Today we notified 86 of the 102 employees in the Volition quality assurance department that they will be let go," a THQ spokesman told Kotaku. "Our quality assurance will now be primarily conducted through THQ's centralized QA facilities, with a small staff remaining on-site in Champaign.

Volition developed games Descent, Freespace, Summoner, Saints Row 2, The Punisher and are working on upcoming shooter Red Faction: Guerrilla as well as Saints Row 3.


"It's important to note that this is not a new reduction, but part of the scheduled lay-offs announced during our last earnings call," the spokesman added.

THQ announced in February that they lost $191.8 million over the holidays and expected to layoff about 600 employees, or 24 percent of its total workforce.

Update: THQ contacted us to clarify who specifically the layoffs impacted:

"The layoffs include 47 temporary employees who will not be having their service extended. Unfortunately, fluctuating headcount among the temporary staff is common based on when our games ship. In addition, 39 full-time staff will be laid off.


"All laid off employees (both full-time and temporary) will be given at least sixty days' notice. We will do what we can to assist them in finding work in the community or elsewhere in THQ."