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Tag: Layoff
ArenaNet Delays Update Amid Layoffs
ArenaNet has announced that the World v. World mount, The Warclaw, has been delayed until March 5 amid ongoing layoffs at the company. The entire announcement has been posted below.
“Last week, we announced the upcoming release of our new WvW mount, the Warclaw. Unfortunately, this release will be delayed until Tuesday, March 5. In light of current events at the studio, we are taking this time to focus on our friends and colleagues. We hope you understand and we apologize for this delay. Thank you for your continued support of Guild Wars 2.”
There is currently no news on how many employees have been laid off.
Source: Guild Wars 2
Perfect World Entertainment Has Laid Off Gigantic Developer Motiga
Motiga founder and CEO Chris Chung has stated to Destructoid that all of the staff minus a maintenance team has been let go at Motiga, developer of Gigantic. This wouldn’t be the first mass-layoff at Motiga, the developer has undergone such a restructuring more than once thanks to the troubled development and rather low reception of their MOBA-esque title Gigantic. When Microsoft pulled out its support of the developer, Perfect World Entertainment stepped in as publisher.
In his statement to Destructoid, Chung states that the layoffs were a cost cutting move as Gigantic just wasn’t making enough revenue, and that the game will be put in the hands of a skeleton crew.
Gigantic will be left at the hands of a maintenance team composed of few dedicated folks at Motiga. They are [an] awesome group of people that will be working on the game until some time in the future when it doesn’t make sense anymore.
At this point it looks like Gigantic’s days are numbered, the question is just how long.
(Source: Destructoid)
Mark Kern Removed From Red 5 Studios
Hello, timing. Earlier today, Gamefront.com broke the news that CEO Mark Kern has been voted out by board members at Red 5 Studios. An internal email leaked detailing that Kern no longer had any authority within the company, and that further information would be given at a subsequent company meeting. Red 5 reached out to Gamefront, confirming that Kern was indeed no longer with the company.
As of Thursday, December 19th, Mark Kern is no longer the Chief Executive Officer of Red 5 Studios. Mark founded Red 5 Studios in 2006 to provide exceptional game entertainment along with a world-class team of developers working on the MMO Shooter, Firefall. Red 5 Vice President of Development, James Macauley, will be moving into the role of acting CEO. The team at Red 5 continues work on Firefall and looks forward to all that we have to offer in 2014.
The Escapist has reported contact from Red 5 employees detailing Kern as absent, visiting only to make arbitrary decisions, and disruptive to the company.
Sony Online Entertainment Layoffs
Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed that the developer has laid off an unknown number of staff from an unknown variety of divisions. SOE’s Linda Carlson posted on several of the official game boards that the reduction aims to reduce costs and focus efforts on the current slate of games.
As a company, our goal is to focus on our core expertise of MMO games and as part of these efforts, we had to make the difficult decision to eliminate positions to help reduce costs, streamline our employee base and strategically align resources towards our current portfolio of games and upcoming slate of MMOs, including EverQuest Next Landmark and EverQuest Next.
Although the developer refused to comment on the number of staff laid off, a representative told Gamasutra that the reduction has affected the San Diego and Austin offices. MMO Fallout hopes the best for those finding themselves unemployed as of today.
(Source: Gamasutra)
Square Enix Lays Off At Los Angeles Studio
Square Enix has confirmed to Massively.com that the company’s Los Angeles studios has been hit with a number of layoffs. According to Square, however, none of the company’s existing MMOs have been impacted at all.
In order to ensure it is operating effectively, the Square Enix Los Angeles office has reduced its workforce. This was a difficult decision and we wish the best for those affected by these changes. The decision will not have any impact on the operations of MMO titles. Customers can expect those services to continue, including the upcoming launch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
We wish the best for those affected by the layoffs, and hope that they find quick employment.
(Source: Massively)
Rift Hit Hard By Layoffs At Trion
The Christmas season just gets worse for game developers. Trion Worlds has confirmed that a number of people have been laid off “in response to market conditions, product timelines and the natural evolution of our company,” although the developer has not offered an exact number. Trion does not offer figures such as concurrent subscriptions or expansion sales. Rift’s latest expansion, Storm Legion, launched last month. More recently, Trion took control of End of Nations from developer Petroglyph, who suffered layoffs of their own.
We wish the best for Trion’s ex-employees. Numbers by an ex-employee point the layoffs at around 40.
(Source: Gamasutra)
NCSoft Announces Layoffs Hitting Seattle Branch
Layoffs right before Christmas? That is cold, NCSoft. After an anonymous source tipped off PC Gamer, the news has come forward that the Seattle offices of NCSoft are undergoing realignment, meaning several positions are no longer in existence. NCSoft’s Public Relations Manager Lincoln Davis said to PC Gamer:
“NCsoft is realigning internal publishing resources to better suit the needs of our game development studios. As a result of the realignment, several employees and contract positions were affected. This was a very tough decision to make and wish the best for all NCsoft employees in their next ventures.”
Reportedly there has been no impact on development at ArenaNet (Guild Wars) or Carbine Studios (Wildstar), or for that matter just how many were laid off.
(Source: PC Gamer)
SOE: Security Alert And Layoffs Abound
“In a move to better align the company’s resources against areas of growth that meet consumer demand in today’s online market as well as improve operational efficiency, Sony Online Entertainment has eliminated just over 4% of its full-time workforce, equaling 35 people. The changes will better position SOE to deliver against its emphasis on developing games for a wider, more diverse audience and remaining a worldwide leader in online gaming.”
I would put my money on Vanguard being one of the games to lose at least one person. With the economy the way it is, I don’t think anyone can blame Sony for having to do some restructuring, following a number of other MMO developers who have had layoffs these past few years. Hopefully those thirty five employees were not from Sony’s account services sector.
On that note, security is a day to day issue with MMOs, with potential account thieves never sleeping in their quest to take your stuff. That being said, I make a note not to talk about security as much because it seems as though when any small group of people have their account stolen, at least one of them will presume that there is some massive wave of account theft going on or, in the case of Aion, that the company is working with the account thieves. When the developer itself releases a security alert, however, I pay attention.
Sony this week announced a security alert for Everquest II and Station, warning players of emails being sent directing users to URLs that look virtually identical to the actual Sony website: http://auth.station.sony.com
If you feel your account may have been compromised by one of these emails, you can contact Sony through their chat, email, or directly through their phone customer support.
More Layoffs Hit Mythic
Eek! Mythic has been hit yet again by the downsizing hammer, as a massive downsizing at Electronic Arts (1,500 employees by April) hits the developer hard: 40% of their employees. According to twitter feeds from ex-employees, Mythic has laid off about 80 employees, approximately 40% of the Warhammer Online developer crew.
“Mythic Entertainment…just laid of [sic] 80 people, about 40% of it’s [sic] employees.”
-Katherine Pitta, Electronic Arts
This news is not going to do anything good for confidence in Mythic’s Warhammer Online, especially when another MMO is set to go under this January (Dungeon Runners) due to continuous cutbacks of staff leading to eventual cancellation.
Depending on who you ask, many will tell you that this is a sign that Warhammer is dying. To say this is a sign is to say the sky getting dimmer is a sign that the sun is going down. You are correct, but we already knew that. Warhammer Online has been spiraling since it launched last year, and to remind people of “imminent doom” is just to beat a dead horse.
So is this a bad sign for Mythic? Obviously, and MMO Fallout will be watching WAR’s development over the next several months to see what effect layoffs will have on the game, and whether or not the content will suffer.
MMO Fallout 