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GameStop to close up to 200 stores
Just two months after GameStop announced ambitious plans to breathe new life into its stores, the company has announced that between 180 and 200 stores around the world will be closing their doors for good before the year is out -- and more closures are coming.
Sony to close its Canadian stores
Sony will close all 14 of its Canadian retail locations, according to a press release issued on The Canadian Press. The company will shut down the stores "over the next six to eight weeks," resulting in 90 layoffs. The company has "been scaling back its business in Canada for the past year and has already shut several locations, including one at the Toronto Eaton Centre." As reported by CBC News, the locations of the soon-to-close stores are as follows: Alberta (3) The Greater Vancouver area (3) The Greater Toronto Area (5) Ottawa (1) Montreal (1) Quebec City (1) Sony announced plans to sell its Vaio PC business and restructure its TV division in February 2014, at which point it planned to lay off 5,000 employees over the next year. It also shut down 20 stores in the United States while restructuring the Sony Electronics division. The Sony-owned developer Sucker Punch laid off some of its staff in August as well. [Image: Sony]
Over 60 percent of Sony Stores to be closed
Sony announced a restructuring of its Sony Electronics division, resulting in the closure of 20 Sony Stores across the United States. The restructuring will affect approximately 1,000 employees "across all sites," which Sony says will amount to a staff reduction of one-third by the end of the calendar year. Just 11 Sony Stores will remain open: five in California, three in New York, two in Florida and one in Texas. The news follows Sony's decision to sell its Vaio PC brand earlier this month, announced among its third quarter fiscal 2013 results in which it saw a net profit of $257 million. At that time, Sony confirmed plans to cut a total of 5,000 jobs worldwide by the end of the 2014 fiscal year, 1,500 in Japan and 3,500 overseas. We added the list of the 20 Sony Store locations that are slated to close after the break.
Sony to shutter two-thirds of its US stores
Sony Electronics is closing 20 of its 31 US-based store locations, the Japanese consumer electronics giant announced this afternoon. The news follows layoffs at Sony affecting approximately 5,000 employees worldwide; it's unclear if European or Asian Sony stores are affected by today's news (we've asked). The announcement release cites Sony's need, "to maintain its competitiveness in an evolving consumer electronics market" as the reason for the closures. The company also sold off its PC business last month, making today's news yet another step in the ongoing restructuring of Sony. The 11 remaining stores are mostly in or near major markets: New York City, Los Angeles, and Orlando and Houston. Sony's two-floor flagship store in New York City is slated to remain open, though the building above it (housing a variety of Sony offices) was sold last year for a cool $1.1 billion. At the time (January 2013), Sony said it'd stay in the building as a renter for "up to" three years.
Blockbuster UK closing remaining stores
The protracted demise of Blockbuster UK ends with all 91 remaining stores closing on December 16, and 808 employees losing their jobs as a result. Administrators at Moorfields Corporate Recovery were unable to find a buyer for the high street rental chain. "We really did try our best to find a buyer, but that, unfortunately hasn't proved possible," said joint administrator Nick O'Reilly when speaking to the BBC. After rapid success towards the end of the 1980s, Blockbuster expanded to the UK through the purchase of rental chain Ritz. It became the country's leading provider of video and game rentals, its expansion continuing into the early 2000s via the acquisition of UK retail chain Gamestation. However, Blockbuster began to lag behind the online innovations of competitors like Netflix, eventually leading to its US arm shutting up shop completely as announced last month. The company's UK arm twice entered administration (a.k.a bankruptcy) this year, with its 500 stores whittled down to just 91. The now confirmed loss of Blockbuster underlines what's been a difficult two years or so for UK games retail, with leading high street outlets GAME and HMV struggling to stay afloat in the economic recession.
The end draws near for Blockbuster UK, 62 more stores closed
Blockbuster UK is likely to follow in the footsteps of the recently defunct US arm, after administrators announced 62 further store closures, with 427 employees laid off as a result. The DVD and game rental chain entered administration (a.k.a. bankruptcy) again earlier this year, and insolvency specialist Moorfields Corporate Recovery is struggling to find a buyer for what's left of the once major presence on the UK high street. "Unfortunately we have still not received any acceptable offers," reads Moorfields' statement. "So as a result we may be forced to close the remaining 91 stores affecting 808 employees." Blockbuster UK's tumultuous year, which has seen the company go into administration twice, over 400 stores close, and thousands of employees lose their jobs, will likely end with it finally being laid to rest. The store's demise leaves the country's high street games retail in a perilous state, with major players GAME and HMV still recovering from their own financial struggles from the year before.
Blockbuster UK cuts 72 stores as search for buyer continues
Blockbuster UK faces 452 layoffs and 72 store closures, after company administrators announced "necessary" measures for the once-again bankrupt retail chain. Moorfield Corporate Recovery, the company tasked with finding another buyer for the struggling outlet, said it wasn't an easy decision to make ahead of the Christmas season. "We must reiterate that, as part of our attempts to turnaround the business, today's decision is necessary if parts of Blockbuster are to be saved and a buyer found," Moorfield said in a statement provided to Sky News. The cuts represent around a quarter of Blockbuster's employees and stores, removing another chunk of gaming's presence on the UK high street. Between them, GAME and HMV closed hundreds of stores and laid off thousands of employees after their own forays into administration last year. The news follows the announcement that Blockbuster's US arm will close all 300 stores and end its retail and mail DVD operations in the country by January 2014.
Trion Worlds to close EU branch
Only a week after acknowledging the closure of its San Diego office, Trion Worlds has announced in a statement that it will be closing down another office. Trion Europe in Guildford, UK, will be cutting 10 jobs in the process, including branch boss John Burns and communications boss Jon Goddard. "European localized versions of Trion's live and upcoming games will not be affected as all regional game development and support continues from Redwood City, CA," said the statement.
Former OMGPOP employees speak out following closure
Immediately following its closure by Zynga, the scene in the OMGPOP office was not what you might expect. As anonymous ex-employees told Business Insider, the Draw Something studio was determined to enjoy its final day. That meant booze, loud music, and defacing Zynga paraphernalia. "Most layoffs are sad," one former employee told Business Insider. "You imagine big corporate settings where security is there to lead people out of the office so they don't make a scene. This was the opposite. Music was being played loudly and people were ripping up Zynga hoodies and t-shirts. Anything that was Zynga was completely left there. The sentiment felt positive." That's not to say there wasn't bitterness beyond the ripped clothes. Former VP of Outreach Ali Nicolas took to Twitter to chastise Zynga for its "idiotic execution" and reminding her "how not to operate a business." Like Nicolas, some employees expressed their ire to Business Insider. One employee said OMGPOP was "totally under-utilized," while another felt no-one other than Zynga CEO Mark Pincus was "really happy" about the studio being part of the company. OMGPOP was one of three studios understood to be closed as Zynga laid off 18 percent of its staff this week. Zynga acquired OMGPOP for a reported $200 million in March 2012 following the New York-based studio's phenomenal success with social doodling app Draw Something. However, the acquisition wasn't able to survive Zynga's continuing struggles, despite OMGPOP releasing Draw Something 2 only two months ago.
Zynga layoffs impact OMGPOP, studio reportedly closed
Following Zynga's massive layoffs, it's emerged the company may have shuttered Draw Something studio OMGPOP. As SiliconBeat spotted, the studio noted via Twitter yesterday "was the last day at Zynga for many OMGPOP staff," and former VP of Outreach Ali Nicolas tweeted she'd been laid off and that the "OMGPOP office is closed." Meanwhile, former Senior Community Manager Joseph Alminawi said he and "most of the studio" were laid off, perhaps indicating some staffers were relocated. Zynga confirmed yesterday it's laying off 18 percent of its staff. The announcement came shortly after a report by AllThingsD noting closures at Zynga's Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York offices. OMGPOP, based in New York, looks to be one of the studios referred to. Today's news comes just over a year after Zynga acquired OMGPOP for a reported $200 million, and only a month or so after Draw Something 2 was released. Former OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter left Zynga back in April. As for Zynga itself, 2013 had already brought high-level departures, studio closures, and significant losses. We've reached out to Zynga for confirmation of studio closures.
Zynga to shutter New York and LA studios, cut 18% of workforce
Social game monolith Zynga plans to shutter its New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles game development studios. Sources at Zynga confirmed the closures to Engadget, and also confirmed reports of layoffs affecting 520 employees (around 18 percent of the company's total workforce), and now CEO Mark Pincus published his internal letter to employees on the company's website. Apparently the ousted employees will receive, "generous severance packages" for their time; we've published the full letter below the break. It's unknown how this will impact games and services from those offices, but it is said to cut $80 million from staff costs. The move is part of a larger restructuring at Zynga with a focus on mobile, which Pincus says will make, "mobile gaming truly social by offering people new, fun ways to meet, play and connect." The studio suffered similar closures late last year, which included Boston, UK, and Japan locations. Update: We've also added Zynga's official press release below.
The Soapbox: Your MMO is going to die, and that's OK
There is no question about it: Bringing games online has fundamentally changed the way we play and interact with one another. Thanks to the web, we can share games with our friends from thousands of miles away. We can hang out with people who live in other countries and learn about human beings who exist in completely different realities. Playing MMOs is an incredible, unique experience that gives players an honest chance at turning their favorite personal hobby into a full-on social engagement. For any of these experiences to be possible, a game must be connected to the web. Without a server humming away in someone's basement or the cold, dark corridors of an MMO developer's hushed office, the games we talk about here on Massively simply wouldn't exist. The side effect of this online requirement is that every online game, no matter how popular it may be at the moment, has a finite lifespan. Eventually, your favorite game is going to die. This is a good thing. Here's why.
Gpotato's Sevencore meets an early demise
Despite recently seeing the first of what players hoped would be a string of new content, gPotato's new title Sevencore announced today that it will be closing its doors. A forum post says that the game "has proved to be less attractive to players than anticipated and thus [it's] become unprofitable for the developer to be continued as a game." The developers hope to transition active players by undertaking the following: Reimbursing all gPotatoes spent between the 1st of February and today as well as between 30% and 75% of purchases prior to this date, Closing the in-game shop with immediate effect while considering making all shop items available for free, Keeping the game open until the end of April, Boosting experience gain and running events during the final period of the game, and Encouraging players to migrate to other gPotato games with special enticement packages. This bad news comes on the heels of the news that Webzen recently purchased gPotato and Gala-Net. Perhaps the purchase will breath new life into the developer after it showed a dip in quarterly sales when compared to the last year.
HMV closing 37 more stores, 464 layoffs
The deluge of bad news isn't over for UK retailer HMV, with 37 more stores confirmed to be closing in addition to the 66 announced earlier this month. These further closures are resulting in 464 lost jobs, making a post-administrative total of at least 1,454 layoffs.HMV, one of the UK's most prominent high street sellers of games, went into administration last month after failing to acquire $483 million to finance debts. Restructuring company Hilco then took on the retailer's debt. This latest round of store closures means HMV's UK high street arm will be cut by almost half to 116 stores in four to six weeks' time.
HMV facing 66 store closures, 930 layoffs
HMV, a multimedia chain and one of the UK's top high street game retailers, is closing 66 of its 220 stores, with 930 employees losing their jobs as a result. Deloitte, the company's administrators, said the closures should occur within the next one to two months."This step has been taken in order to enhance the prospects of securing the business' future as a going concern," said Joint Administrator Nick Edwards. "We continue to receive strong support from staff and are extremely grateful to them for their commitment during an understandably difficult period. All other key stakeholders remain very supportive and I continue to be hopeful of securing a future for the restructured business."HMV also posted a statement on its Facebook page this morning, echoing Deloitte by saying the closures give the retailer the best chance possible of a viable future on the high street: "As you may be aware, a number of our stores in the UK have been earmarked for closure. This decision has not been taken lightly and, though very sad and regrettable, it is necessary to give HMV the best possible chance of emerging from administration and having a future on the high street. We'd like to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of affected colleagues, who continue to work with great passion and dedication, and this decision in no way reflects on their considerable efforts on behalf of HMV. We also sincerely thank our customers in these locations for their valued support over many years, who we hope will continue to shop at HMV." HMV entered administration in January after failing to secure $483 million for debt financing. Hilco, a British restructuring company, subsequently took on the debt and is expected to take over the company. HMV's struggles have headlined a tough 2013 so far for British games retail, with Play.com closing its retail operations and Blockbuster UK also entering administration.
Sony Mobile moving HQ to Tokyo, cutting 1,000 jobs in Sweden
Sony's slow and painful transformation continues with a restructuring of its newly-minted mobile division. In October, it's moving its headquarters from Lund, Sweden (presumably a holdover from its Ericsson days) to Tokyo -- for deeper integration -- and repurposing the duties of its facilities in Tokyo, Lund and Beijing. As part of the changes, Sony Mobile will slash 15 percent of its workforce, with 1,000 employees being let go by the end of March 2014, in a trend we've seen across the industry. Most of those affected are in Sweden, with 650 on-site staffers and up to 450 consultants being shown the door.
THQ shuts down publishing in Italy and Spain [Update]
THQ has closed its offices in Italy and Spain and hired an outside distributor, Koch Media, to ship its games throughout those regions instead. The closures follow a "strategic review" of THQ's operations in Italy and Spain, according to Annie Sullivan, THQ's managing director of European market development."We were looking for a distribution partner who has the most effective networks locally to market THQ's products," Sullivan said. "I'm excited for the opportunities that THQ's partnership with Koch Media represents and am looking forward to working together on successful launches of our forthcoming products."We have contacted THQ for more information on the European closures.Update: THQ has responded, noting that these are not "new" actions, but are new distributor agreements in Spain and Italy: "As part of the previously announced restructuring of its global publishing business, THQ made changes to its publishing operations in Europe. As a result of those changes, the company will now utilize Koch Media as its publishing distributor in Spain. In Italy, the company continues to utilize a distribution company, and a new agreement is in place with Koch Media for that region."These are not new actions, just updates on previous decisions and new agreements with specific territory distribution partners."
Epic's Mike Gamble blames studio closures on 'stupid acquisitions'
Epic Games' European head, Mike Gamble, says there's a simple reason we're seeing so many big game companies close triple-A studios lately: stupidity. "It's happened because of stupid acquisitions," he said in London recently. Quite a few studios have seen shutdowns, either after or even during big game releases, and Gamble even specifically calls out Disney for buying and then closing down Split/Second developer Black Rock Studio. "What was the point of a well-known children's IP holder buying a hardcore racing studio?," asked Gamble. "It doesn't make sense." Disney would probably argue that it wanted to expand its console division away from just children's IP, but of course the results bear Gamble's hindsight-improved assessment out on that one. Still, he also says there's an upside to all of the bad news. Especially in Europe, according to Gamble, a lot of developers from studios that have been acquired and closed are instead starting their own companies with different priorities. "There's a sea change in the European industry," said Gamble. "People are not looking to create companies where they're going to buy Ferraris. They're looking to create companies where they're having a great time and making nice money, but really doing the cool stuff."
Soul Master closing down for redesign, scheduled to return in 2011
Soul Master, an action MMORTS from GamesCampus, has announced that it will be joining the ranks of shuttered MMOs on November 16th. In something of a departure from your typical MMO shutdown, the notice on the free-to-play title's official website states that the game is tentatively scheduled to be re-launched in the summer of 2011 after it has been completely reworked. The current build is "not sufficient to meet our standards in both the direction we feel game development should go and the quality of the experience we feel is deserved by the player community," says the announcement. The statement also hints at Soul Master's resurrection in six to eight months, one that will apparently feature a more traditional style of MMO character progression. Check out all the details on the official website.
