Dcubed Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 There's that "Microsoft Gaming" term again... Ominous clouds surrounding the Xbox brand and the team as a whole I reckon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted September 12 Share Posted September 12 Not a sacking but somewhat similar. The entire video games publishing staff at Annapurna have quite due to disputes. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-12/annapurna-video-game-team-resigns-leaving-partners-scrambling?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcyNjE3NzQyOSwiZXhwIjoxNzI2NzgyMjI5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTSlBZWklUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.BpoA_wBJDrNbDbgj_LjnVUJQg6SM_vsIzWUEM6v85xE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 Another set of layoffs, this time for six team members over at Evening Star (Penny's Big Breakaway): 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 Doesn't surprise at all that indies are feeling the pinch as well. There was an indie developer on Era stating that it's near impossible to get any kind of decent exposure these days due to the flooding of the market. They weren't wrong. You could have your game show up at an Indie Direct but unless it's doing something REALLY special, it's likely it will be forgotten about pretty quickly. For the layoffs to have happened at Evening Star, clearly the game didn't do that well, despite having decent reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted September 14 Author Share Posted September 14 That’s really sad. Penny’s Big Breakaway is a very good game that deserves to have done better… … but this is the video game industry, where quality rarely matches up to actual sales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted September 14 Share Posted September 14 I wonder if the person that decided to not announce the game until launch is one of those being let go - that choice was a bit of a disaster. Especially so for a game that takes a bit of time to get to grips with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted September 28 Author Share Posted September 28 https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/remedy-enters-into-15-million-loan-agreement-with-tencent Remedy selling more and more of themselves to the Tencent devil… … I fear that they won’t be long for this world… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted October 4 Author Share Posted October 4 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-04/tencent-guillemot-family-are-said-to-consider-buyout-of-ubisoft?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business Quote Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Ubisoft Entertainment SA's founding Guillemot family are considering options including a potential buyout of the French video game developer after it lost more than half its market value this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The Chinese tech company and Guillemot Brothers Ltd. have been speaking with advisers to help explore ways to stabilize Ubisoft and bolster its value, the people said, asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. One of the possibilities being discussed would involve teaming up to take the company private, according to the people. Some minority shareholders including AJ Investments have been pushing for either a take-private or a sale of Ubisoft to a strategic investor amid the stock price plunge. Considerations are at an early stage and there's no certainty they will lead to a transaction. Tencent and the Guillemot family are also considering other alternatives, according to the people. The Tencent vultures are circling the Ubisoft corpse... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julius Posted October 9 Share Posted October 9 Tequila Works, the studio behind Rime, has announced layoffs and the cancellation of a game. Per VGC: Quote Spanish development studio Tequila Works has made a "small" number of layoffs. It said the move followed the decision to cancel an unannounced project that had been in development at the Madrid-based outfit. "With deep regret, we must inform of the decision to cancel an unannounced game," Tequila Works said in a LinkedIn post. "This tough decision means we will be restructuring the studio to concentrate on the development of only one game. These changes will have an impact to a small number of roles at the studio. "This is an incredibly difficult time, and our focus is to provide the support and guidance to those affected," it added. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrowingJoe79 Posted 14 hours ago Share Posted 14 hours ago I was rather peed off about Tango Gameworks. Definitely grateful for both The Evil Within games being produced when the survival horror genre was in a modest slump. Hopefully they will be able to work on new horror projects someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted 12 hours ago Share Posted 12 hours ago Namco are essentially forcing workers to quit. Quote Video game publisher Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. is cutting its workforce after canceling several titles due to lackluster demand, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tokyo-based company is taking a traditionally Japanese approach to reducing staff and sending workers to rooms where they are given nothing to do, putting pressure on them to leave voluntarily, said the people, asking not to be named discussing private information. Since April, affiliate Bandai Namco Studios Inc. has moved about 200 of its roughly 1,300 employees to such rooms and nearly 100 have resigned, said the people. More are expected to leave in coming months, they said. Such oidashi beya, or "expulsion rooms," are sometimes used by Japanese corporations in a country with some of the world's strictest labor-protection laws. Employees are typically given no work-related tasks, but are left with the knowledge that their performance will give managers ammunition to cut severance when they do leave. Many employees use their time in such rooms to look for other jobs. Bandai Namco said its goal is not to push employees out of the company. "Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation. Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before they are assigned their next project, but we do move forward with assignments as new projects emerge," a representative of Bandai Namco said. "There is no organization like an 'oidashi beya' at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily." Over the summer, the company further shuttered smartphone game Tales of the Rays and said it would take down big-budget online game Blue Protocol in January. It's also decided to either cancel or pause development of several games, including ones that feature characters from animes Naruto and One Piece, as well as a project commissioned by Nintendo Co. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted 11 hours ago Author Share Posted 11 hours ago 1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said: Namco are essentially forcing workers to quit. Video game publisher Bandai Namco Holdings Inc. is cutting its workforce after canceling several titles due to lackluster demand, according to people familiar with the matter. The Tokyo-based company is taking a traditionally Japanese approach to reducing staff and sending workers to rooms where they are given nothing to do, putting pressure on them to leave voluntarily, said the people, asking not to be named discussing private information. Since April, affiliate Bandai Namco Studios Inc. has moved about 200 of its roughly 1,300 employees to such rooms and nearly 100 have resigned, said the people. More are expected to leave in coming months, they said. Such oidashi beya, or "expulsion rooms," are sometimes used by Japanese corporations in a country with some of the world's strictest labor-protection laws. Employees are typically given no work-related tasks, but are left with the knowledge that their performance will give managers ammunition to cut severance when they do leave. Many employees use their time in such rooms to look for other jobs. Bandai Namco said its goal is not to push employees out of the company. "Our decisions to discontinue games are based on comprehensive assessments of the situation. Some employees may need to wait a certain amount of time before they are assigned their next project, but we do move forward with assignments as new projects emerge," a representative of Bandai Namco said. "There is no organization like an 'oidashi beya' at Bandai Namco Studios designed to pressure people to leave voluntarily." Over the summer, the company further shuttered smartphone game Tales of the Rays and said it would take down big-budget online game Blue Protocol in January. It's also decided to either cancel or pause development of several games, including ones that feature characters from animes Naruto and One Piece, as well as a project commissioned by Nintendo Co. Very common practice amongst Japanese companies. Konami in particular were notorious for this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted 10 hours ago Share Posted 10 hours ago 34 minutes ago, Dcubed said: Very common practice amongst Japanese companies. Konami in particular were notorious for this... Yeah, I remember that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcubed Posted 5 hours ago Author Share Posted 5 hours ago Quote Hey all, I want to share some important updates about @leagueoflegends PC. We've made changes to our teams and how we work to make sure we can keep improving the League experience now and for the long-term. But I want to be clear: we're not slowing down work on the game you love. We're investing heavily in solving today's challenges faster while also building for the future. As part of these changes, we've made the tough decision to eliminate some roles. This isn't about reducing headcount to save money—it's about making sure we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond. While team effectiveness is more important than team size, the League team will eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League. For Rioters who are laid off, we're supporting them with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months' pay, annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more. We have full confidence in @RiotMeddler , @RiotPabro , and the League leadership team, who are leading the charge in this next phase of League's journey, and we look forward to sharing more about our ambitious plans in the future. Thank you all for playing and for being part of the League community. Marc This one is particularily callous; especially considering how LoL makes money hand over fist... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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