Sierra's staff have been largely cut in an effort to "reconstruct" Vivendi Universal.

Vivendi Universal Games announced today that 350 of their staff, nearly 40% of their workforce, have been laid off in an attempt to reconstruct the firm.

When the Sierra offices in Bellevue, Washington close in two months most of the staff will have already left. Sierra has been the biggest studio to have cuts, but it seems that Vivendi Universal will still be using the title.

Papyrus Studios, creators of the NASCAR titles, and Impressions Games, creators of strategy titles Zeus and Cleopatra were shut down recently as well.

Blizzard Entertainment however have remained unaffected. The studio is currently working on highly anticipated World of Warcraft and is believed to be one of the reasons there has been no change to the structure.

"Restructuring the organisation and reducing our cost base are necessary to improve our operating effectiveness and profitability," according to VU Games CEO Bruce Hack. "This constitutes another important step in our turnaround plan aimed to better position the company for growth."

Some of the Sierra titles, such as Ground Control 2, Half-Life 2 and Tribes: Vengeance, are being worked on by external developers at present. However the Hoyle range of card and board game adaptations are to be cut.