We're picking up word that THQ has recently laid off a number of its employees at two of its subsidiary studios: Sandblast Games, and Rainbow Studios.

With regard to the latter, THQ had reportedly laid off a total of 30 employees last April from one of the Rainbow's games under development.

The project itself will still be moving along, albeit with a smaller staff. The readers may recall Rainbow Studios for its previous works on titles like the MX vs. ATV series, Cars (PSP, Xbox 360, Wii). We previously reported that Brad Ruminer, Dennis Booth, and Glenn O'Bannon had broken away from Rainbow Studios to found TimeFly Studios, though this news may not be related.

THQ has also reportedly laid off several members of its Washington-based Sandblast Games studio. No details were announced regarding how many employees were axed. Work on the studio's current project, Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) is expected to continue.

We remind the readers that THQ hasn't confirmed this news yet, so we'll be sticking it on the back-burner until more substantial information is found. Visit us again in case we run into any related updates.