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SOE Layoffs. This Can't Be Good
Rifle123
Member UncommonPosts: 38
http://ca.kotaku.com/5787461/sonys-mmo-makers-close-three-studios-lay-off-one+third-of-workforce
"Word began spreading when George Broussard, best known as the co-creator of Duke Nukem Forever, tweeted earlier this evening that SOE was seeing layoffs and "studio closure is possible." Kotaku has confirmed through a source familiar with the matter that the closures affect SOE's studios in Seattle, Tucson, Ariz. and Denver. Half of the workforce at SOE offices in Austin, Texas were pink slipped along with a sizeable portion of San Diego. In sum, it accounts for nearly one-third of SOE's manpower before today."
The only response I can see on DCUO's board is a 'We can't comment' from RadarX.
33% layoff? Didn't think they were in THAT bad of shape.
Comments
SWG can finally be at peace soon then.
No, that can't be good.
To me it spells the end for Vanguard and Starwars galaxies. I hope it wont affect Everquest Next.
What games will this affect ?
Sounds like good news to me /sarcasm
I have a pure hatred for SoE that's built up over the years, they have done so much so wrong, on top of that they are quite the greedy bastards.
In the end, nothing good can come out of such a thing, that's merely my opinion.
I feel sorry for all the people losing their job though, that's quite sad, they don't have much to do with the crap job the management and the higher ups does.
Couldn't really understand that a comic book made game universe could / can last in the hands of todays gamers as an MMORPG either, it's not what most people are looking for (again merely my opinion and from the looks of how things have been up over the years.)
The people and the friends that we have lost, and the dreams that have faded, never forget them~
They keep kicking the wrong people, they should kick the ones that are incharge and not the people doing their job under poor guidence.
After SOE release a new game they wait for about 1-3 months and then they fire people. Dont blame a pupil for a teachers errors.
Yeah, but seriously, what's the point of keeping Vanguard, Star Wars Galaxies and Everquest Online Adventures for the Playstation 2 up and running when there are so few people around?
There is hardly any community left in any of those games, there's not enough new blood being thrown into them simply because they do not have a future.
It's also quite difficult to get new blood into games that are old, it's easier to hype up newly released games or games under development and do a good job after shipping.
Something SoE has not really been very good at. I've heard it's more or less the same with DC:UO.
Times are changing, at least it feels like it, and I hope they are changing for the better.
Personally I have tried to play Everquest 1 a few times up over the years, after the graphics updates they have made it has made the game half decent in that respect.
As far as I know, nothing has been done with the clunky UI or ability / casting bars, those could really use an overhaul.
They really aren't changing enough in the older games to really try and attract new people, which is a shame.
The people and the friends that we have lost, and the dreams that have faded, never forget them~
Vanguard. ;p
*hopes top brass and decision makers are affected as well*
SOE not doing so well is the responsibility of those who had the last word on projects, development and planning.
My brand new bloggity blog.
YES!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!
I only waited for this day for many years...........
Now my biggest wish is that SWG is shut down for good
They brought this on themselves and I don't have to tell anyone here of all the evil they have done to gamers.
I've watched other game companies shut down promising games but yet somehow SOE always kept crap titles alive by mysterious reasons a.k.a Star Wars Galaxies with a player base of like 5 people.
I grew up with Everquest, so it has a good spot inside my heart, sort of.
Still, I'm an eternal sceptic when it comes to EQ Next (EQ3) seeing as SoE are so good at screwing things up.
Rule no. 1: Never stomp your current main playerbase.
SoE has done this tenfolds. The free to play EQ2 server was probably the last nail in the coffin in that regard.
The people and the friends that we have lost, and the dreams that have faded, never forget them~
I've been waitng for this day for a long time.
Hopefully other companies will take notice that MMO players arnt willing to buy into half baked over hyped rubbish anymore. It can only be a good thing for the industry. Those still clinging to their faith that their SOE titles will get better now have a hope of seeing their games get some love if their sold off.
Good riddence you filthy, greedy scumbag cash grabbers. I hope the fruit of your labours is to your liking.
I doubt it will affect several games as they don't have development teams for the most part.
Planetside, Vanguard, EQ:OA, EQMac have all been running without devs for a long time so they are free money for the most part. Not much, but still almost no cost there.
SWG only has a couple of developers and most likely they are required to have X number in their contract with Lucas. Doubt much will change, but nothing much was happening already.
EQ, EQ2, DCU are going to be the big losers for their live games as well as any of their virtual card games they run. DCU will most likely be the hardest hit.
Expect customer service to be slashed across the board.
As for projects already in development. Planetside:Next, The Agency and EQNext? I'd be willing to be that they put everything they have on EQNext in an effort to try to release a game that has a chance to sustain the company. I doubt we ever see the agency and PSNext might be close behind that, but maybe it is closer to release than suspected.
Either way, if this is true soe is in big trouble. They have struggled to find any level of success with their releases of late and that is with a full sized company. Losing this many employees isn't going to improve their output at all.
If watching their last round of layoffs is any indicator, they will fire the devs that do the best work that players respect.
While I feel sorry for the Dev's and other staff who have lost their jobs... This is SOE... The same sorry bastards responsible for the NGE. It may not be over quite yet, but the fat lady is singing.
DCUO will be hit the hardest it is common place that games after release cut back to a skeleton support dev staff. So I would guess they are going from 8 devs to 4, that's about the amount that works on eq2.
Vanguard already had 0 devs, the eq2 devs were double duty. I expect vanguard to finally shut down, so were probably going to be seeing some info on that. I also expect to see potbs go under as well. I think were going to see a huge hit to free realms, as they been floundering for quite a while.
I also noticed that soe been really quite about this and it was not a company spokesman who released this info so it might not even be true at this point, it could just be sour grapes.
I feel sorry for the people who were laid off but what I'm most concerned about is if this will effect the possibility (not convinced it's reality) of Planetside actually coming to fruition. With recent events and absolutely no news, maybe it'll just be pawned off as an April Fools or just fade into the wind without another word.
I just don't get why people are happy about others losing their jobs. Do you really think it was Smed or any of the other decision makers that got the boot? Probably not. Just some people that got paid to do what they were told to do. Stupid F'n attitude towards the situation if you ask me.
I also enjoy the assumption that SWG or VG will close. Like we all havent heard that for the past 5 years. Even when SWG does shutdown it is not going to be a victory for you in any way. It has been going for 7 years. Do you really believe that they have not made money off of the game? The only people that lose will be the small yet loyal player base the game has. Those people are not the "enemy" they are just gamers that have a different taste in games than you do.
I am no $OE fan. I just find it hard to find pleasure in these peoples misfortune.
SWG was one of, if not, the best games I ever played.....I loved it.....until they ruined it.
They have a knack for taking a beautiful cake and turning it into a steaming pile of feces......at least with SWG.
EQ2 had bad decisions during its development too....the lack of armor.
I just hope EQ3 is still produced....but the track record doesn't seem so positive.
While I feel really bad for the devs that got let go, it couldn't happen to a better company. Maybe they'll finally realize you can't keep dumping on your playerbase, telling blantant lies and make money the sole factor in making decisions regarding your games.
Agreed, this is not something to be happy about. If Smed got fred I would open up a bottle of Bollinger but this is some poor joes like any of us that got fired for doing what they were told.
In the end it might lead to SOE realizing that they need to change things so something positive can come out of it but that doesn't help the guys who lost thier jobs.
I've been kind of assuming that SWG would close down the closer we got to SWTOR's release so I won't be surprised if SWG goes. Its overdue.
@Greenhell
I think most people are not shocked that this is happening. Some might take joy in it as they are still upset about how soe did business with them and I won't deny them that point. However I think the common message is going to be (and seems to be already) that Sony keeps getting rid of the wrong people. This will be the 3rd round of layoffs in as many years. The game market is growing, especially the mmo market, but soe keeps shrinking. The problem isn't the rank and file employees.
Not sure it'll mean the end of either one. Vanguard is one that hasn't had any updates for over a year and most bugs are fixed now. The playerbase is 'stable' enough to keep the servers up & running financially... I'm not active in SWG, but I guess the same goes for that one as goes for VG.
I'm just wondering what it means for EQN and EQ3. I hope these games are still under development and that the layoffs are only in effect because SOE won't do anything new for the PS3 platform.
Aside from the speculation, I hope the layed off employees will find a (better) job soon. There are enough developers in the US...
I can't really muster up a way to feel good about this. This is the company that brought me into MMOs in the first place. They gave me 5 years of happyness, and gave me the ability to make some invaluable friends over their game.
While they made some "less then steller" games in the past and i'm certainly no fan of the games they made recently. They did one thing few companies have, and thats give me a good time with the people i care about (in EQ).
So while others may be saying good for you, down with the ship.
I'm more like, okay while i'm glad your happy, this is kinda a part of my past that is going away.
So i can't stay on the happy wagon. I'd prefer EQ stay up as a staple of my past (maybe thats being selfish), it's not like SoE does this to on purposely shoot themselves in the foot, they do what they think will get them money.
In the end i guess i just don't have the built up hatred for this company some do.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
I agree and it has been obvious for many years that SOE needs a clean sweep at the higher levels of managment. I also will celebrate the day that Smed is shown the door. Not because of the NGE but because his level of incompetence is just mind blowing. It just sucks for the people that did get laid off. Its a shit economy as wel all know.
From RadarX
http://forums.station.sony.com/dcuopc/posts/list.m?start=15&topic_id=26169
" Unfortunately we can't comment on rumors but once they have been officially confirmed or denied by those who make these decisions I'll be happy to allow a thread. Thanks!"
So while the scope of the cuts are still speculation I think we can assume that something is underfoot. I am interested to see how this re-aligns their staff.