Seattle-based mobile games firm Big Fish Games is set to lay off 250 employees as the company faces a restructure.

As reported by GeekWire, the company currently has around 600 members of staff, meaning it is going to cut its workforce down to just over half. Yesterday, a court judge approved two orders that require the current and previous owners of Big Fish to pay $155 million by way of recovering losses that users of its casino apps suffered. Churchill Downs, who sold the company to Aristocrat Technologies for $990 million in 2018, will pay $124 million while Aristocrat will pay $31 million.

However, it is worth noting that in a letter to staff, co-presidents Andrew Pederson and Jason Willig insisted that "saving money is not a primary driver behind the changes. Rather, our goal is to be a more effective and customer-centric organisation."

Difficult decision

"The scale that Big Fish developed over many years as a multi-platform publisher has made it difficult to successfully lead in mobile, which requires greater agility and different operating and creative capabilities. By pivoting how we operate and sharpening focus, we will gain increased flexibility to engage players more effectively today and invest more for the future. We are making these changes proactively from a position of financial strength," reads the memo.

Those working in the Seattle office will be the most affected, where all reductions will be made in most functional groups.

"These decisions are difficult and were made only after careful consideration. We are grateful for the contributions of every departing team member and are committed to treating those leaving the company thoughtfully and with respect."