Following a tumultuous year of layoffs and an ongoing merger, Paramount Television Studios is now shutting down.
Today, Paramount Television Studios President Nicole Clemens announced that the division will shut down by the end of the week via a memo sent to employees, according to Deadline. The decision comes just days after Paramount announced that it would lay off 15 percent of its employees in the U.S.
“This has been a challenging and transformative time for the entire industry, and sadly, our studio is not immune,” she wrote. “Over the past 11 years, PTVS has weathered seemingly insurmountable obstacles through a combination of strength, determination, and unwavering commitment. We met these challenges with incredible resilience, creativity, and passion for what we do, and I could not be prouder of our team.”
According to another memo sent by CBS CEO and Paramount Global Co-CEO George Cheeks, the decision was not based on performance and instead was “the result of significant changes in the TV and streaming marketplace and the need to streamline our company.”
Cheeks also announced that all current PTVS series and projects in development, including Cross, Before, and Murderbot, are moving to CBS Studios. It is still unclear if any employees are being folded into CBS as well or if all are simply being laid off.
IGN has reached out to Paramount for comment.
Founded in 2013, PTVS is best known for Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, 13 Reasons Why, and Reacher. However, PTVS faced layoffs twice this year, with February’s round of layoffs folding quite a few aspects of PTVS into CBS Studios. Fears of layoffs have also grown amid Paramount Global’s tentative merger with Skydance Media.
Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun, and they recently released a game called Garage Sale. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.
