I think it’s fair to say that Gameloft has been one of the most important publishers in mobile gaming’s brief history. They were going big into making mobile phone games before most, and although a lot of their earlier efforts were pretty blatant riffs on popular console and PC games, you still have to give them credit for the amount of effort they put into those games. But the times have changed, and the App Store even more so. The type of games Gameloft made best don’t sell the way they used to, and I think it’s fair to say the company has, like many, struggled to keep up with the movement of the market. There’s only so long that can go on before something terrible happens, and I suppose yesterday was that day for Gameloft’s New York City offices.

According to a report on Gamasutra which cites a now-deleted Facebook post from Gameloft NYC lead programmer Kevin Chen, production at the NYC offices has ceased and all development personnel have been laid off. As many as 100 people lost their jobs yesterday, effectively dissolving a development studio that has produced a bunch of best-selling games over the last 15 years, including one of my recent favorites, Spider-Man Unlimited (Free). Gameloft has a number of other development studios around the world, of course, but it’s awful to see any developer shuttered, no matter how big or small they may be.

Let’s hope everyone who worked at Gameloft NYC who finds themselves out a job today can land on their feet somehow. Spider-Man Unlimited is probably one of my most-played mobile games since its release, and I know I’m not the only Spidey fan who loves it. Each and every person who worked on it deserves an ultra-coveted TouchArcade Most Spider-Mans Of A Lifetime award, and if you’re going to enjoy some celebratory vermouth, you might want to make it the non-metaphorical kind today. Best of luck to all the folks at or formerly at Gameloft during these difficult times.

[Gamasutra]