Office to close, with day-to-day operations for MMO Defiance shifting to Redwood City studio; Scott Hartsman returns as CEO.

Trion Worlds will close its office in San Diego, California, the publisher confirmed today with GameSpot. Support for MMO Defiance will continue, as operations for the game will be shifted to the company's Redwood City branch.

"We can confirm that the San Diego studio will be closing," a Trion Worlds representative said in a statement. "The-day-to-day operations of Defiance will be moved to our Redwood City studio where it can be managed alongside Rift and our other in development titles including ArcheAge and End of Nations. As part of this transition, we are working hard to ensure that a number of great people will be making the move from San Diego to the Bay Area and continue their work at Trion."

It is not clear how many staffers were affected by the closure of the San Diego office. Trion Worlds enacted a round of layoffs at the branch in May.

Defiance, which ties in with the Syfy show of the same name, has 1 million registered players. The TV show has been picked up for a second season.

The closure of Trion Worlds' San Diego office comes on same day that the company appointed Scott Hartsman the outfit's new CEO, effective immediately. Hartsman previously held the position of chief creative officer at Trion Worlds and oversaw the launch of Rift, before leaving the company in January.

In an email to the company today, Hartsman said, "We're going to rapidly be laying the groundwork for a new strategy for Trion--one that's closer to the foundation of how we've had our wins so far, and then extending that base into the enduring success this company can, and will, be."

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