Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City developer Slant Six Games laid off some of its employees temporarily, intending to rehire all of the people once it secures new projects or funding, a representative told Games Industry today.

"This necessary measure has been taken to reduce the size of our team and to decrease interim operating costs while we continue to negotiate new business," Slant Six said. "Temporary layoffs provide us with a time period to keep everyone's employment position open with full benefits. The intention is to reinstate all of the people affected when new projects or funding has been secured."

Slant Six has used this temporary layoff method before: Once in April 2010, coinciding with rumors that Star Wars Battlefront Online was canceled, though all of those employees were rehired. In June 2012, following Operation Raccoon City's launch, Slant Six offered one fourth of its team a severance package or the temporary layoff route. There were 96 employees at Slant Six at the time, and before today's layoffs, the studio had 60 employees.

Under British Columbia law, the laid off employees retain benefits and collect employment insurance for 13 weeks, at which time the firing becomes permanent, unless they are rehired.