WG Cells, a mobile-focused subsidiary of Wargaming, has closed its 64-person office in the Seattle area.
Wargaming made the decision today to shut down its WG Cells division in Bellevue, WG Cells CEO and co-founder David Bluhm confirmed on Tuesday.
Originally called DropForge Games, the Bellevue, Wash.-based mobile gaming studio was officially absorbed into Wargaming this past October after the two companies had been intertwined for years. DropForge was renamed WG Cells as a result and planned to help Wargaming enter the mobile space.
The shutdown of WG Cells, which built mobile games like Loot & Legends, Fantastic Plastic Squad, and its newest title Smash Squad points to a rapidly-changing mobile gaming industry.
But for Wargaming, which has most of its operations in Eastern Europe, it simply became too expensive to operate a mobile development office in the U.S., and particularly in Bellevue. It’s unclear if WG Cells’ other offices in Cyprus and Ukraine are shutting down.