Topic: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-present

[Chozo Ghost]

Microsoft wastes millions of dollars when they purchased Rare. But I guess when you're the richest company in the world you can throw money around randomly and hope sometimes you get a good hit. Obviously, Rare was a miss.

[ThePerm]

Maybe Microsoft will sell its Rare assets back to Nintendo for  $500

[BlackNMild2k1]

Respawn picks up four more Infinity Ward vets

Respawn picks up four more Infinity Ward vets
 
 Out of the four ex-Infinity Ward employees discovered today to be taking  up positions at Respawn Entertainment, the new home of former IW heads  Jason West and Vince Zampella, two held senior positions and all four  are currently members of the "Infinity Ward Employee Group" suing  Activision for millions of dollars. Preston Glenn ("designer"), Chad  Grenier ("senior designer"), Sean Slayback ("game designer"), and Zied  Rieke ("lead designer) have all confirmed on LinkedIn to have made  the quick switch from their former bosses' studio to their new,  EA-backed startup.
 
 According to G4's report, the tally of Infinity Ward employees that have  joined West and Zampella's still nascent studio is up to 16 as of  today. The studio has seen a flood of employee vacancies in the wake the  co-founders' firings early last month, and a not-so-surprising recent  rush of ex-IW developers jumping on to Respawn's staff. West and  Zampella's new dev house has yet to announce any projects but, well, all  those employees have gotta be up to something.

Infinity Ward HR rep joins Respawn

Kristin Cotterell, formerly Human Resources Manager and Recruiter at  Infinity Ward, has now signed on as the Human Resources and Recruitment  Manager at Respawn Entertainment.
 Cotterell, who announced her new employer via her LinkedIn profile, previously revealed she was  leaving Infinity Ward last  week, just as many of her former co-workers were filing a royalty  lawsuit against Activision.
 She is the fifteenth former Infinity Ward employee to publicly follow  Infinity Ward co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella to their new  venture at Respawn, and should be instrumental in helping the new  company recruit even more talent.

I don't think there are any lead/seasoned employees left.


edit: Activision Q1 2010 Financial Report as today: Kotick Comments

Activision president Bobby Kotick’s just said that despite its latest troubles, Infinity Ward “remains an important process” to the Call of Duty IP.
Kotick’s comment came at the start of Activision’s Q1 2010 financial call, and over two months after the   whole blowout began when ex-bosses Vince Zampella and Jason West were fired for “insubordination”.
The call’s ongoing, but expect some comments on the situation. The firm said at the start of the call they’ll answer as much as they can on the situation.

an important process? what is that supposed to mean?

[Chozo Ghost]

Has anyone ever noticed the greatest creative minds are also the ones who get labeled "insubordinate"? They're the ones who "think outside of the box" and that often gets them in trouble with the higher ups, but at the same time they're the ones who accomplish great things and revolutionize things.

[Peachylala]

Maybe Microsoft will sell its Rare assets back to Nintendo for  $500

Only the IPs and nothing else. Rare is nothing but a hallow shall of it's former self.

Has anyone ever noticed the greatest creative minds are also the ones who get labeled "insubordinate"? They're the ones who "think outside of the box" and that often gets them in trouble with the higher ups, but at the same time they're the ones who accomplish great things and revolutionize things.

Same thing happens with Nintendo too, I can imagine, but on a less grander scale then this drama.

Maybe...?

[NWR_insanolord]

Has anyone ever noticed the greatest creative minds are also the ones who get labeled "insubordinate"? They're the ones who "think outside of the box" and that often gets them in trouble with the higher ups, but at the same time they're the ones who accomplish great things and revolutionize things.

Apple built a whole advertising campaign around that in the '90s.

[KDR_11k]

Has anyone ever noticed the greatest creative minds are also the ones who get labeled "insubordinate"? They're the ones who "think outside of the box" and that often gets them in trouble with the higher ups, but at the same time they're the ones who accomplish great things and revolutionize things.

They're supposed to think outside the box of the traditional game design, not outside the box of the employer-employee relationship. You don't see Miyamoto refusing to make a game when Iwata orders him to (see NSMBW, that was ordered by the company heads) and all the authority he gets to throw tea tables around is based on him being a superior to other designers, not being a random renegade. Similarly I've never heard of Will Wright being particularly rebellious. These guys here are more like rock stars, they create one big thing and then bathe in money and fame.

[ThePerm]

you don't see Miyamoto doing that, but you do see Shinji Mikami doing that.

[NWR_Lindy]

All I can say is that the only way you can cause an ENTIRE COMPANY to quit is by screwing them over royally.

West and Zampella were surely popular amongst their colleagues, but you can't tell me that every single one of those 30-ish people had a burning desire to quit their IW job and move over to Respawn just to work with them again.  I'm sure some of those people worked at IW for years, really had a lot of pride in the company, and wouldn't have just uprooted themselves because a couple of people left.  CEOs leave companies all the time, and even the most popular ones don't cause a mass exodus upon their exit.

Mark my words, at some point Activision said, "You're not getting THIS until you do THIS", and everybody at IW was like, "WTF?  Screw that, and screw you, Activision."

[BlackNMild2k1]

Firaxis sees layoffs of about 20-30

Layoffs Hit Civilization V Creators

About 20 people were laid-off from Firaxis, the creators of Civilization V, parent company 2K confirmed to Kotaku today.

Tipsters told us that Firaxis laid off 20 to 30 people yesterday including folks from the quality assurance team, the user interface art team, animators, programmers and designers.

Markus Wilding, global public relations director for 2K, tells Kotaku is was about 20 people.

"I can confirm that Firaxis has realigned its development resources in order to streamline its development process, reduce costs and maximize the overall performance the studio," Wilding told Kotaku. "This will result in the elimination of approximately 20 positions. These reductions will not impact Firaxis' ability to create and deliver AAA titles, including its forthcoming Sid Meier's Civilization V and Sid Meier's Civilization Network for Facebook."

We've also heard that Jesse Smith, a producer on both Civilization IV and a yet-to-be-named secret project, was let go last month.

The layoffs come at a time when Firaxis prepares to release what is starting to look like one of the best editions of its long-loved Civilization series.

Turn-based strategy game Civilization V is due out this September for the PC.

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://kotaku.com/5587413/rumor-rockstar-lays-off-40-from-red-dead-redemption-team

after a successful launch of a new game too, but I guess this is standard practice for the industry.

[Peachylala]

after a successful launch of a new game too, but I guess this is standard practice for the industry.

except Nintendo :I

[TJ Spyke]

http://kotaku.com/5587413/rumor-rockstar-lays-off-40-from-red-dead-redemption-team
but I guess this is standard practice for the industry.

Precisely. Develops will hire new employees when they begin a big project and lay off some employees when the project is complete, it's nothing personal. The studio will hire new people when they begin their next project.

[Peachylala]

http://kotaku.com/5587413/rumor-rockstar-lays-off-40-from-red-dead-redemption-team
but I guess this is standard practice for the industry.

Precisely. Develops will hire new employees when they begin a big project and lay off some employees when the project is complete, it's nothing personal. The studio will hire new people when they begin their next project.

How often does this happen to Nintendo? Just want to know.

[ThePerm]

Its the crab fisherman way! I know Silicon Knights does this.They do this to make sure they retain the best, and drop the worst.

[Peachylala]

Its the crab fisherman way! I know Silicon Knights does this.They do this to make sure they retain the best, and drop the worst.

Since you're the closest to us in the video game development industry Perm, how can one tell who does the best and the worst?

[ThePerm]

i wouldn't say I'm any closer to anyone else on these forums, i just read a lot of interviews. SK talked about how it was pretty much standard for them to hire 30 new employees and then probably keep 10 of them after the game was finished. I don't remember where I read this. Probably Gamasutra. I've been in "working on my portfolio and resume mode" for way too long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmGzTvh78mM

its really kinda weird. i just watched the making of Tron, and that movie had a budget of 17 million dollars, and all that stuff I could make better and for astronomically less with modern technology. However, It is not like I have a team of people working with me.

[Morari]

I haven't seen a movie better than Tron in a looong time.

[TJ Spyke]

It's been rumored for awhile, but yesterday Disney announced that they had purchased social gaming company Playdom for $563.2 million. Playdom's games include Social City, Sorority Life, Market Street and Bola.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/disney-buys-playdom-for-563-million/

[TJ Spyke]

Last week Playlogic filed for the Dutch version of bankruptcy. Last fiscal year they lost $21 million and last quarter they lost $2.1 million.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/playlogic-is-down-for-the-count/

[ThePerm]

It's been rumored for awhile, but yesterday Disney announced that they had purchased social gaming company Playdom for $563.2 million. Playdom's games include Social City, Sorority Life, Market Street and Bola.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/disney-buys-playdom-for-563-million/

sigh, not the type of business to invest in, its like a bubble about to pop.

[Stratos]

Especially with the growing trends like 'quitting' myspace and facebook. As that shrinks so will the pool of people who would play those games.

[KDR_11k]

Not really. Many people are attention whores and want some way to share their important thoughts with the world. They'll go to some other social service sooner or later and the expertise for developing social games will still be necessary.

[TJ Spyke]

Also, a recent study shows that more people use social networking sites than ever before (it's up to something like 23%). Even if they migrate, that is why these social gaming publishers want to make their games for multiple sites. I don't think any of them are worth $563 million, but the market won't be going away anytime soon. It may shrink, but I think it will still be viable.

[Stratos]

I guess it is a bit pre-mature to call it an implosion or death for social service sites and games. It just feels stronger for me because I blatantly ignore my facebook page all the time and a high number of my friends are quitting.