Ignition Games appears to be in a tight spot. Gamasutra reports that the entirety of the console development team at Ignition Austin has been laid off. "We can confirm that a small console team, which was working on pre-production of an unannounced title, was laid off," the company released in a statement. "The PC team was unaffected." According to the report, approximately 15 people lost their jobs.

Also in question is the status of Ignition's Japan studio, which developed the upcoming action game El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron. According to its sources, the Tokyo studio has also closed--although the company did not provide a confirmation. If true, the studio closed just a month away from the US release of their game.

El Shaddai will release on PS3 and Xbox 360 on July 26th.