Tag: Layoffs

Turbine Lays Off Unspecified Number Of People


As it is, layoffs in the MMO industry are common. Jobs are often based on contracts and temporary in nature, and developers tend to over-hire when developing the game itself or a large piece of content, and then follow the launch with a round of layoffs. In that regard, I’ve always said here at MMO Fallout that more information is needed than a simple “X developer is laying off staff,” before we are all free to run around screaming about the end of the world. In today’s case, developer Turbine Entertainment has laid off a number of staff as part of restructuring at Warner Bros. In an email, Spokeswoman Remi Sklar stated:

“As part of the continual review of our business operations and fluctuating market conditions, we have had to make reductions in our Turbine workforce,”

Our thoughts go out to the unknown number of Turbine ex-employees, and we hope you all find jobs quickly.

(Source: Boston Globe)

Bigpoint Lays Off 120, Halts Development in United States


Bigpoint has abandoned development in the United States, according to a news piece by Gamasutra released today. The bad news comes alongside even worse: 120 employees have been laid off from the free to play publisher, over a third if whom are from the San Francisco studio. The layoffs are due to the cost of labor in San Francisco, as well as competing with other studios in the area for skilled work.

Founder and CEO Henrik Hubertz has stepped down from his role, citing unrelated reasons. Speaking to Gamasutra, Hubertz gave his own insight into Bigpoint.

The games that we have developed in the last two years haven’t been that successful, and the San Francisco area and Bay Area is quite a competitive market,

The other 80 layoffs came from Bigpoint’s office in Hamburg, mostly in administration. None of Bigpoint’s current projects have been affected by these layoffs.

(Source: Gamasutra)

Funcom Reverses Layoffs, Anarchy Online Engine Update, Steam


You were paying attention when Funcom stated that the layoffs back at the end of August were temporary, weren’t you? In the latest Flash Point podcast, Joel Bylos went on to explain that the rehiring process has already begun, with three of the ex-Funcom employees brought back to the team. On the end of The Secret World, Funcom will continue its tactic of monthly issue updates, adding in a wide range of new content to the MMO.

In other Funcom news, Anarchy Online is coming to Steam. In the monthly update post over at the Anarchy Online forums, Producer Ilaliya explains that the Steam-compatible version of Anarchy will be available as soon as a few kinks are worked out, some to do with in-game bugs dealing with the Steam overlay, the other to do with internal scheduling over at Valve. Additionally, the long awaited upgrade to the Dreamworld Engine for Anarchy Online is coming along, with public beta testing to start hopefully early next year. This upgrade will bring with it a multitude of changes to Anarchy Online on a graphical and functional level, including the ability to add armor as additions to a character rather than the old painted on look.

(Source: Flash Point Podcast)

(Source: Monthly Development Update)

Funcom Temporarily Lays Off Staff


Funcom recently launched The Secret World, and if you hadn’t heard: It didn’t go so well. Launch numbers have been pretty unimpressive, and came on the heels of CEO Trond Arne resigning his role and Funcom’s shares taking a nosedive. Funcom’s second quarter finances won’t be released until the 28th of this month, but we can expect that the news won’t be good. According to recent reports, The Secret World failed to even break the “Conan-like” scenario that Funcom had predicted for launch, which some of you may remember as 280,000 subscribers.

Funcom has stated to Massively.com that they have recently laid off a number of staff, stressing that the layoffs are temporary (their emphasis), with the following statement:

“As we announced in the stock notice that went out on August 10th, Funcom is in the process of reducing operational costs and this process includes temporary layoffs as well as other initiatives. As we are currently in the middle of this process we can not provide any further comment at the present time. Rest assured however that we have long-term plans for the company and that we remain fully committed to all of our games. We aim to provide more information soon.”

As I always point out, layoffs after a game’s launch are nothing new and happen with virtually every game as development ends and temporary workers are relieved of duty. What is important is that we should keep watch of The Secret World’s content updates.

More on The Secret World as it appears.

Bioware Laying Off Employees, Executive Producer Departs


The video game media just loves a doom and gloom news story. With the launch of The Old Republic far in the past, Bioware began laying off staff in May. The layoffs are continuing with the recent restructuring Bioware Austin and the departure of Richard Vogel, Executive Producer. Vogel departs Bioware after joining in 2005.

EA released a statement describing the layoffs as rather expectant.

“As with the launch of any MMO, the size and skillset of the teams needed to maintain the game is different than the ones that built it. Starting in May, there have been staff reductions in the BioWare Austin studio. Some people have been platooned to other projects at BioWare Austin and EA SPORTS/Austin. Others have been released – qualifying personnel receive severance and outplacement assistance.”

The annual shareholder meeting will be taking place soon for Electronic Arts, which will hopefully offer more insight into The Old Republic’s activity. As always, we wish a speedy job search for those affected by the layoffs.

(Source: Massively.com)

38 Studios Is DOA, Entire Staff Laid Off


The 38 Studios saga may come to a close faster than we thought. According to Fox 25 out of Boston, 38 Studios may be out of commission by this weekend at the earliest. If reports are to believed, employees aren’t being paid and are either leaving or being laid off in large quantities. The state of Rhode Island has refused to give any of the money requested, according to Curt Schilling, and many high-up employees have already announced their resignation (including the chief executive and senior vice president).

I am willing to bet that Electronic Arts will likely buy up Big Huge Games as well as the Amalur IP, but this is all speculation.

(Source: Fox Boston)

Bioware Hit With Layoffs, The Old Republic


Discussing layoffs after a game launches is akin to beating a dead horse. I should know, as the Human Resources director in my old company had brought in a live horse and a baseball bat to give the saying more meat (or to be blunt about it, depending on your flavor of pun). The Old Republic is one of the largest, most stable launches in MMO history. So large and stable in fact, that Bioware laid off an unnumbered amount of staff to keep the system from being too balanced and stable.

Of course this is all conjecture. Layoffs following an MMOs release are to be expected as the game’s requirements shift downward in scope. There isn’t any more detail than what I’ve pointed out here, but if you are interested in some marketing lingo, you can check out Greg Zeschuk’s statement at the Old Republic forums below.

Best of luck to the recently laid, and in case you are still looking for jobs, Turbine is hiring.

(Source: SWTOR Forums)

Blizzard Lays Off 600: But From Where?


Blizzard is a special case. If any other company were to lay off 600 people, I might put on my tinfoil hat and start predicting the incoming Chapter 11 apocalypse. Meanwhile, while the usual people are screaming of the impending death of Blizzard, it is worth noting that 90% of the layoffs are from the non-development side of the company without impact on the World of Warcraft development.

But there is one factor I wanted to talk about with regard to World of Warcraft, and that is how Blizzard has managed to do a complete reversal of expectations on income versus subscription numbers. In the past year or two since Blizzard’s figures peaked at twelve million, subscription numbers have dropped by nearly two million. Against what you might expect, Blizzard continues to post higher revenue from World of Warcraft thanks to the increasing sale of cash shop vanity pets and mounts.

So while a good few are referring to the layoffs as the death slide of Blizzard, I’m going to need more persuasion before I dust off the old tin foil hat.

CCP Lays Off 20% Work Force


CCP’s situation is unfortunate. The developer has done very well with Eve Online, but as I speculated earlier is year, the simultaneous development of DUST 514 and World of Darkness is straining the company to its financial limits. The reduction in staff is expected to leave one fifth of CCP’s employees without a job, and will leave World of Darkness with a significantly reduced team.

The focus for now will be on Eve Online, as well as the integration with DUST. As a point of good news, although Eve Online’s subscriber numbers are lower than they were this past summer, they are higher than they were this time last year. CCP continues to report growth year over year.

You can read the entire report here. Our best goes out to those who lost their jobs, and we hope for fast employment.

Major Layoffs At Sony Online Entertainment


Word that Sony Online Entertainment Seattle is having layoffs and that studio closure is possible. http://bit.ly/eSxtvq
-George Broussard on Twitter

This was reported by Kotaku, although there has yet to be an official statement, Kotaku reporter Owen Good (who reported on the story) has confirmed it with a more involved source than George. It has yet to be seen which studios have closed down, although reportedly the studio behind the upcoming Agency MMO has been slashed.

This is no doubt a bombshell, not only for us playing Sony’s games but more importantly for the people who are losing their jobs and livelihoods. MMO Fallout is committed to this story, and will be updating as soon as any news is released.