Layoffs have hit Perfect World Entertainment. It was first rumored in a tweet by Ben PerLee, who had previously worked as PR for the company; the tweet has since been deleted, but a response calling it “a slaughter” remains [Nope, that one’s been deleted too now]. Matt Miller also tweeted today confirming that he had been laid off, having previously been working on Star Trek Online.

Captain Smirk, community manager for Star Trek Online, also appears to have removed references to his job with the game from his Twitter account . No official word has yet been put out regarding these layoffs or whether they extend beyond the one game into Neverwinter or non-Cryptic properties, and the threads discussing them on the official Star Trek Online message boards have been locked quickly by moderators . We are reaching out to PWE for confirmation and will have more on this story as it becomes available; until then, our sympathies extend to those affected by this staff reduction.