Developer of the acclaimed Civilization series of strategy games, Firaxis Games, has been affected by a round of staff layoffs, as 20 members of the 130-strong team leave the studio.

Firaxis owner Take-Two said that the cuts were made to “maximise the overall performance of the studio,” and assured fans that work on neither the upcoming Civilisation V, nor the in-development Civilisation Facebook game, would be affected by the layoffs:

“Firaxis has realigned its development resources in order to streamline its development process, reduce costs and maximize the overall performance of the studio,” Take-Two said in a statement.

“This will result in the elimination of 20 positions. These reductions will not impact Firaxis’ ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its forthcoming Sid Meier’s Civilization V and Sid Meier’s Civilization Network for Facebook.”

Civilisation V is still scheduled for its late September release, while the Facebook game will enter an open beta “later this year.”

Source: Variety Technotainment Blog and Gamasutra