The post below is not accurate. I am not able to report to you how many layoffs occurred. With regards to my status I am still employed by Turbine. It is conditional employment though. I have two weeks to find true love or my job is eliminated. They will then employ 3 chimpanzees to mash the keyboard at my desk around the clock.
The real reasons the layoffs occurred are below.
The value of Mithril coins are very closely tied to the bitcoin market. Fluctuations in that market have diminished certainty and reduced the value of Mithril coins to a point where cuts were required.
The license that was renegotiated earlier this year was actually a lie. All content going forward will be based on Tolkien fan fiction and not the actual work of the professor.
Another reason that we had to lay people off was because of the poor skills of the pvp players in this game. Seriously do you even pvp bro? Just kidding you guys are awesome.
Also, Half-Life 3 confirmed.
Lastly it turns out we've alienated large portions of our player base that used to buy things and have subscriptions. Apparently keeping your customers happy is a viable business model.
If anyone has any tips on finding true love in two weeks let me know.
Thanks
Rick