Update:
Venturebeat has learned directly from GREE International COO Andrew Sheppard that around 30% (not 2/3) of the employees in the SF office were laid off.
GREE International, the wholly owned US subsidiary operated by Japanese mobile gaming powerhouse GREE (3632), has apparently laid of 2/3 of its workforce.
Neither GREE International nor GREE proper has officially confirmed the news, but it is out on Twitter (see 1,2,3), and I personally confirmed it with a few sources.
Based in San Francisco, GREE International is one of the two locations outside Japan where GREE is present: the other is GREE Korea in Seoul.
Overseas, GREE employed 365 people at the end of Q3 FY2015, which means that around 200 people in San Francisco should be affected by the lay offs. That office was opened back in 2011.
GREE has been de-emphasizing its overseas business over the last months, so the move isn’t really surprising.
In May, the company shut down its studio in Canada. GREE coin consumption in the last five consecutive quarters has dropped.
As a result, GREE dedicated a single page to its international business in its latest financial report, where the company said they will focus its overseas efforts on Europe during Q4.
