Gameplay cut 275 jobs

Gameplay, the mail order company turned e-commerce barons have today axed a further 275 jobs from their high street arm, and cut back severely on their international operations. They have also consolidated both their London and Leeds offices by combining various functions into the same space. The move comes as something of a shock, as Gameplay only recently branched out into the high street, with a couple of original stores (including one in Kingston and another in Glasgow) along with the acquisition and conversion of The Dixons Group's @jakarta shops into its own. The cost-cutting measures will apparently result in a saving of some £12.5m annually across the board, and should help get Gameplay out of the muddy waters they have presently found themselves in. It is also believed that even more jobs are to go, after a secret 10am meeting of the various staff at Gameplay's London HQ. The company is believed to be making sweeping changes to its internal structure and almost certainly cutting back on those areas that outsiders suggest are losing it money; Wireplay for instance. Gameplay chairman Mark Strachan described this morning's early announcement as a "broad and decisive restructuring of the business" before explaining to everyone who would listen that he just wants to make some money, for crying out loud. No announcement has been made about further losses this lunchtime, but the news is expected to break through the usual channels within a matter of hours. We'll keep you posted. As will no doubt have occurred to you by now, this is just one of several high-profile cutbacks across the industry that we have reported on in the last week. Sega have restructured on a grand scale, culling jobs at its European HQ, Codemasters axed 90 positions yesterday afternoon, and other gaming-related companies have also announced poor results and potential redundancies; in Barrysworld's case it even stretched to the realms of voluntary liquidation. Update: At the time of writing (11:15am), the outside world's connection to Wireplay's game servers has allegedly been turned off. The internal staff netfeed has also been severed. This is believed to be in an effort to prevent reporters easily contacting staff or vice versa, but it doesn't bode well. The entire London staff has allegedly been sent home for the day, and more job losses are still expected. Related Feature - Codemasters axes 90 jobs