Rock Band developer Harmonix has announced staff cuts as part of its restructuring plan. The 39 positions (13 per cent of staff total) affected at the Massachusetts-based studio are said to be mostly from its QA department.

"We can confirm that 39 positions were eliminated today at Harmonix as part of re-structuring to better align our staffing to best suit our product development plans and schedules moving forward," an MTV/Harmonix spokesperson told IGN. "Those affected were primarily in QA. The others affected ranged from administrative to other various roles within the company."

The cuts are said to not be related to the performance of any specific Harmonix title and aren’t part of the recent layoff news from partner Electronic Arts.

"At this time, Harmonix will shift to a combination of temporary/part time help, outsourcing and support from external partners which is in line with how other game developers manage their QA departments," the spokesperson added.

Earlier this year MTV and Harmonix parent company Viacom recorded a decline in revenues and profit during the second quarter, factors partly attributed to falling Rock Band franchise sales.