Devsisters USA - the US office of Korean developer and publisher Devsisters, home of the Cookie Run franchise - is to remain open despite layoffs resulting in the loss of key staff across the new year.

It was reported that, following the departure of a number of staff, that the studio was effectively shuttered as a number of high profile former employees announced their departure and the studio's "closure".

Now, an official statement from Devsisters USA has confirmed that the studio will remain open.

"While it is true that we are facing a challenging period, the decision to reduce our workforce has been a strategic one to address our current financial challenges," says Albert Chung, director of US operations & marketing.

"Contrary to speculation, I want to emphasize that we are not closing our US office. We are dedicated to maintaining our presence in the US, and Devsisters USA remains committed to delivering quality entertainment to our fans and community."

Troubled times

Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea Devsisters are most famous for the Cookie Run series of games. It appears that the new round of redundancies are entirely focused on the Devsisters US office.

Cookie Run has become a major success for Devsisters, spawning multiple spin-off games and a web series (Last Cookie Standing) based on characters from the games.

Last year Cookie Run: Ovenbreak - the latest game in the series - managed to obtain 45 million players in Korea and played a major part in their end-of-year financials.

Yesterday, key staff including the director of PR at Devsisters USA, senior social media manager and VP of marketing took to LinkedIn to tell the story, pay their regards and look for work.

"Shortly after I left, like many in the gaming industry Devsisters were forced to make significant layoffs to the US team, writes Scott Moscatelli, Devsisters USA former VP of marketing. "There are many extremely talented folks in Social, Growth, PR, Creative, Business Development & HR who are available, for now!”