Since I know there are some industry people around here, I’lll repost this from Smedley here :
John Smedley @j_smedley 14m14 minutes ago
anyone who can help hire any of the people we laid off today please contact Jae Chang at [email protected]
Moorgard out.
It will be very interesting to see what the official word on all of this is.
I have an IM from someone that supposedly knows someone on the EQ1 team (yeah, reliable!) that EQ1 team is now pretty much 5 managers, 1 programmer, 2 artists. No ability to create significant new content, pure maintenance. The “2 artists” part seems odd for maintenance, though. </RUMOURMONGER>
EDIT: Then I remembered they sell cosmetic items in the cash shop…
Oh, man, if that “5 managers” part is true, just kiss the whole enterprise goodbye.
What, that seems right, no?
1 Person to manage the codewrangling.
1 person to manage the artistic vision.
1 person to make sure those two managers are well managed.
1 manager to manage the snacks.
And one manager to manage the other two senior level managers.
That’s a lean, efficient structure right there! What?
So, I should probably hold off on getting back into EQ1 or 2 then, huh?
That’s one way to look at it. The other is that it’s now or never.
Yeah, I was pulled back into it a week or so ago. I was also dipping a toe back into Planetside 2. Excellent timing! I figure EQ1 has maybe a year before its totally shitted-up. It doesn’t look like the PS2 team was impacted much (so far).
One positive part of this, GDC is in two weeks. It is a lot worse to lay people off right after the biggest development conference of the year – this way they are in a great position to set up interviews.
“They Break Games”
Reddithas a list with people affected by the firings.
Everquest Franchise
David "Smokejumper" Georgeson, Franchise lead Eric "Felgon" Smith, Landmark/EQNext producer Jeffrey Butler (skip to 27:20, in chat), EQN/Landmark creative director Steve "Moorgard" Danuser, EQNext lead content/story designer Mark Storer, EQNext programmer Aaron "Gnobrin" Bisnett, EQ2 artist Akil "Lyndro" Hooper, EQ2 Designer Racheal "Afista" McKenny, EQ2 community manager "Endymion", EQ2 developer
Planetside 2
David Carey, producer Katherine Anderson, build master Xander Clauss, level designer Kevin Moyer, designer/vehicle balance Taylor Dowell, database/marketplace Sarah Vu, QA Ryan Owens (confirmed via reddit PM), QA
H1Z1
Noah Watkins, UI artist Kelduum Revaan, technical designer
DC Universe Online
Ellen Andersen, producer
General Staff
Linda "Brasse" Carlson, Director of community relations Tiffany "Amnerys" Spence, community manager Aimee "Ashlanne" Rekoske, community manager Kyle Manchester, community manager
I still say, that EQnext is probably dead, unless of course the investment company has a batch of people from their own ranks with MMO experience?
Landmark doesn’t seem to be left alone either. All in all, pretty sad,and of course, I hope everyone gets new jobs fast! I know David Georgeson has an interest in VR so maybe they’ll band together and make a new VR MMO :-)
Those layoffs make me scratch my head. What’s the purpose of getting rid of a bunch of people at the head of EQN and keeping all the rank and file people? I guess to me that means one of two things: either the investors are going to bring in a leadership team of their own to run things, or they’re going to take everyone working on EQN and redirect them to a new project. Or is there a third option that I haven’t thought of?
The official word from Daybreak:
Last week we announced that we were acquired and are now operating independently as Daybreak Game Company. To better position our newly independent studio for future growth opportunities and to deliver on our legacy of making top online games, we have had to make some tough choices including realignment of resources.
Unfortunately, this realignment means adjusting staffing as well. We announced today that we will eliminate positions in our San Diego and Austin studios. We deeply value our employees and never take these decisions lightly so we’ve done our best to do what’s right for the people affected. Although extremely difficult, these are necessary actions that will ultimately drive improved results and help strengthen our company’s foundation for success. Many of us are saying goodbye to close friends and colleagues who we’ve worked with over the years, and we are grateful for the memories and all that they’ve contributed. They will be greatly missed, and we wish them nothing but the best for the future.
These reductions will not affect the operation of our current games and as mentioned above, will help better position our company for future success. As we move forward, we are committed to delivering the best online games and working side-by-side with our players to drive the future of our online games.
Every time I read corporate bullshit like that it just makes me want to punch someone in the face.
If someone would–consistently and very, very hard–punch the people who wrote it every time someone wrote it, they’d probably stop writing it eventually.
I mean, good people would go to jail for assault for awhile, but seems like a worthwhile endeavor.
You line 'em up, I’ll knock 'em down!
Er, I mean I will strategically realign my resources to strengthen my foundation and position myself for future success.
It’s difficult not to conclude that EQN is dead. Maybe it was so far behind schedule, that makes sense.
Newly ex-Planetside producer weighs in:
Hey guys,
I came on to say goodbye to you guys (at least in my current role, prepare for lurking), but after scanning the front page I wanted to change the flavor of the post a bit.
Columbus Nova deserves no hate in all this. They are more like white knights than negative forces here. SOE needed a shake up/new direction, and CN provided that. They have done nothing but been gracious in their new ownership, and they went out of their way to make sure that Devs and support teams that got laid off were taken care of. Right now things seem shitty, and of course for the folks that were let go, today was rough, but CN and DB were both very open about the need for restructuring. This wasn’t a surprise to folks in the company.
Gaming is a tough industry, and not for everyone. I’ve seen lots of people come and go, both good and otherwise. The fact is, there are no (or at least, extremely few) permanent gaming jobs. If you want to have just one job in your career, don’t pick gaming, or even computer software. It’s just the nature of the beast in such a pioneering industry. But the flip side is that there is always a new opportunity awaiting, it just may require a move to a new location or some other sacrifice.
Most of the let go folks will be working in the gaming industry soon. The rest may decide to move on to other, less volatile lines of work. But no one I talked to regrets their time making games for folks to enjoy. It’s a rare job that lets you bring pleasure to so many people’s lives.
Back to the subject - if you guys feel angry or betrayed, it would be misdirected to place that at the feet of the new company. They didn’t bring in new staff to replace us, or say we did a shitty job and treat us poorly - they looked at the bottom line and the numbers just didn’t line up. The new layout lines up now, and the goal is that DB can be successful and move on from this and eventually expand again. Saying “I’m cancelling my sub” or “I’m never buying another thing in PS2” isn’t the right tactic, as much as the former Devs appreciate the intent of your support. If you want to make a positive impact, then keep doing what you’re doing - if you like the game, play it. Give feedback. Get your friends to play. Buy what you want to, and what you feel gives you value. If you aren’t happy, tell DB through the means you do now, social media and /bug reports. The game will grow or shrink depending on how you guys act, which is how it should be. If you make a statement on principal for the dearly departed devs, you will be hurting the remaining staff who have worked just as hard to make you guys a game you like to play. They may not be all names you know, but trust me, they put their blood, sweat, and tears into this.
TL;DR - CN didn’t do this, it was something that had to be done. CN is providing a chance for the games you love to continue going
-David C, former PS2 Producer
Weird, because many of the tweets from the laid off folks seemed pretty surprised.
I think it’s possible to both know that the company you work at needs to change, and also be surprised when that change involves you.
Keep in mind that layoffs are hardly ever about performance. It happens, but most of those that I’ve been a part of were more about company structure. You end up letting go of really good people who just don’t fit into the new company.
I made an effort to get back into EQ this weekend. As I expected, I’m completely lost on my main character.
The advice to just start over seems to be the best, but my logic right now is that effort is better spent with a newer game with better graphics.
One final questions: is EQ still grind mobs to level game, or are there more actual quests in the game?