WildStar News - Up to 60 Carbine Devs Laid Off, Port to China Canceled

SBFord

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More than a few Carbine developers have posted to Twitter that they have been given notice and are no longer working for the company. There is also a post on the WildStar forums that indicates that the company has undergone a reorganization and that the studio will be focused on operating and updating the live game in the US and EU and have cancelled plans to release the game in China. As a result, staff reductions have been put into place.

cronius77

are we really surprised by this?

Sovrath

It's just a "banner day" for "good news" isn't it.

Volgore

I just read that CRB_Hotspur left

https://twitter.com/CRB_Hotspur/status/708368875549626369

and now this... According to Tony Rey more than 70 have been let go so far.

Ammon777_new

I never played the game...

simsalabim77

This is why I would never consider working in the games industry even though my dream has always been to work on video games. It's an extremely brutal industry for line employees.

I don't see Wilstar being around long enough to make it to Steam at this point. NCSoft seems to be gearing up to close the game.

Mikeha

Time to take this game behind the shed and put it down.

BillMurphy

You can't say "we are canceling plans for China" but then say "we are committed to the game". Those are just opposing statements. You're committed to the current game, and when it comes to further development it all hinges on how Steam and the now small Dev team manage to make any money. But I guess you can't say "we don't have faith in his game, so we are going to milk it for a while."

Anyway, sad day for Carbine and for EQN.

Talonsin

BillMurphy said:

You can't say "we are canceling plans for China" but then say "we are committed to the game". Those are just opposing statements. You're committed to the current game, and when it comes to further development it all hinges on how Steam and the now small Dev team manage to make any money. But I guess you can't say "we don't have faith in his game, so we are going to milk it for a while."



Anyway, sad day for Carbine and for EQN.

Beat me to it Bill

Gazimoff

By my rough estimates, this is probably half to three quarters of the development team. Possibly more, depending on how many are shared with B&S and live operations. It bites, but I'm in agreement with Bill on this one.

Azmodeus

This is a great day for the MMO anti establishment. We need less Wow clone/themparks and more sandboxy innovation.

orbitxo

EQN was a no shocker tbh. but carbine-again really??? the fact that they laid off 75% of current WS devs (yes! they did-and the most crucial ones too!!!) i really dont see this game producing nor gaining a new player base with its harsh reputation its colored itself in.

very sad WS has been one of the best mmos ive ever played!- truly an mmo!

gervaise1

I'm surprised they still had this many devs left.

Presumably the cancllation of the port to China indicates that they decided they would simply be throwing good money after bad.

The question now: will it actually launch on Steam? 

flizzer

Bad news day for MMORPG fans.  I think I'll have a few drinks. 


Bill Murphy did hint at some big announcement/project that is on the horizon in another thread that he can't talk about.  

hallucigenocide

Azmodeus said:

This is a great day for the MMO anti establishment. We need less Wow clone/themparks and more sandboxy innovation.

Nope.

kitarad

I never realised that Carbine had that many developers.

Daakkon

I had a little bit of fun with this game but it is all over the place. I am not surprised by this news at all.

pinktailz

they would have more profit if cancel it on west and bring it to china, make game p2w open worl pvp madness

Alverant

Wow. Now I hope I can get through the main content before the game gets canceled.
It shouldn't be too hard. I level up about every other session.

Lobotomist

simsalabim77 said:

This is why I would never consider working in the games industry even though my dream has always been to work on video games. It's an extremely brutal industry for line employees.



I don't see Wilstar being around long enough to make it to Steam at this point. NCSoft seems to be gearing up to close the game.

I personally decided its time to leave game industry myself. And I must say good riddance.

Panther2103

No matter what they do with the game they can't seem to hold an audience. I feel like people go in expecting something different, and end up leaving because it wasn't there. I enjoyed it when I played but the lack of players killed it for me. Same problem I had with Vanguard.

bbates024

This games, dying because it never really found a direction to go in. First it was HARDCORE, most of us knew this wouldn't work but the crammed it out anyways, then the game lost its studio head and the vision for the game became even more murky. The combat in this game is too amazing for it to die, but the sad truth is without a real leader pulling everyone in the same directions, with features that fans want you can't succeed.

Know your audience, hit the right features, and offer multiple difficulty levels for end game content. Come on guys Rift made it five years, you haven't even launched a new raid in 2.

simsalabim77

Lobotomist said:

simsalabim77 said:

This is why I would never consider working in the games industry even though my dream has always been to work on video games. It's an extremely brutal industry for line employees.



I don't see Wilstar being around long enough to make it to Steam at this point. NCSoft seems to be gearing up to close the game.

I personally decided its time to leave game industry myself. And I must say good riddance.

From the outside, it looks like an industry with an awful lot of starry-eyed young adults who are working their dream job. Only to find themselves relocating to the most expensive parts of the country, having their souls crushed by corporate bureaucracy, maddening hours, mediocre pay, and inevitable lay-offs. 

Alverant

Panther2103 said:

No matter what they do with the game they can't seem to hold an audience. I feel like people go in expecting something different, and end up leaving because it wasn't there. I enjoyed it when I played but the lack of players killed it for me. Same problem I had with Vanguard.

Well how different do you want? We got a sea of fantasy game compared to just a handfull of sci-fi. Maybe it's because I never played WoW, but I saw the game as pretty different than other games I've tried. I just don't care much for the combat.

Purutzil

The concept itself wasn't bad, unfortunately there were so many issues with it. It alienated casual gamers to much without giving them the chance to actually grow and get better. The leveling system was sadly dull and lacked variety and spice to make it interesting. It just didn't give much for players to connect to.

At this point with what happened it seems as if the game is just going to sink quickly. It is a shame a game like this I think COULD excel just isn't getting a second change like a game like FF14 did and capitalized on it. The publisher seems just far too content to drop it instead of trying to rework the elements that held the game back.

MysteryB

NCsoft you know something, City of Heroes was the best game you ever had, I say had because Cryptic Studios made that game, but you shut down the best MMORPG out there and are now paying the price. I hope your entire company fails.