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Layoffs are probably in store for Transformers Universe
A staff reduction will be hitting Jagex's Transformers Universe team, and not for the first time. The studio has confirmed that it is in the process of examining duties and roles within the development team, with some team members facing reassignment to elsewhere in the company and others seen as redundant. No actual layoffs have taken place at this time, although "soon" is the watchword. The announcement does mention that there are opportunities in an as-yet-unannounced project currently in development behind the scenes at Jagex. Transformers Universe went into open beta in July and has a variety of founder's packs currently available to purchase; an official launch date has not been announced. Our condolences to all those affected by the upcoming layoffs.
TUG cuts its staff in half to keep moving forward
There are certain announcements that never inspire confidence, like saying that you've had to remove half of the team working on a project. That's the announcement that TUG's developers recently dropped on the community. An investor that the team had been counting on provided terms that would have meant losing control of the project, so Nerd Kingdom chose to decline the funding. This might have been a great choice from a moral stance perspective, but it also meant that the team had to be pruned to keep the project financially viable. For fans, the immediate downside is that the game will be running a bit later with its Kickstarter rollouts than previously scheduled. The game is still humming along in development, though, and this reduction should be enough to keep the lights on. You can read the full update on the Kickstarter page, which also details a few potential unnamed spots of hope on the horizon.
Anarchy Online's director leaves the game
Parting is such sweet sorrow, and fans of Anarchy Online are receiving a full dose of that sorrow. Fia Tjernberg, the game's current director, has announced in a forum post that she is leaving her post as director due to the deteriorating health of a family member and the numerous Funcom layoffs. As she puts it, her departure ensures that the existing staff will have less pressure to reduce its numbers, which she feels is better for the health of the game in the long run. Tjernberg stresses that the team behind Anarchy Online has completed or nearly completed a number of wonderful projects that improve the overall game experience, including the graphical revamp, which is slated to be released in the near future. At this time there has been no announcement of who will be the game's next director. This comes in the wake of Tjernberg's previous statements regarding the layoffs and Anarchy Online and last week's announcement that senior content designer Brad McAtee is departing the game. [Thanks to David for the tip!]
Layoffs hit NCsoft's North American offices
Earlier this morning Massively received an anonymous tip that NCsoft terminated an undisclosed number of employees at its Austin, Brighton, and Seattle offices earlier this month. According to our tipster, "many operations jobs are leaving Austin and being contracted back to Seoul," and there were further layoffs in the quality assurance and billing departments, with "with many more put on 60-day notice." We contacted NCsoft for an official comment and received the following reply: "In an effort to put a greater focus on the success of the Western-developed games from NCsoft, and the long-term services MMOs require, we announced a global restructuring to our Western publishing team. To optimize the streamlining efforts, limited functionality is moving to our headquarters in Seoul, and some publishing support has been reduced. As a result, there has been a reduction in force that has impacted less than 2 percent of our global workforce. We remain committed to fully support the development of games from ArenaNet, Carbine Studios and Paragon Studios." We'll keep you up to date on the situation as it develops and as we learn more.
Faxion Online studio hit with layoffs
If you're a fan of Faxion Online, the last thing you want to hear about is members of the game's development team getting the axe. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened today -- UTV Ignition has reportedly cut staff from the division responsible for much of the game's programming and maintenance. Exact lists have varied, with Don Choi (vice-president of UTV's online division) claiming that only a small fraction of employees were let go while employees affected have claimed that the majority of the studio has now been cut. The affected team members have claimed that the game's customer service and support are also being cut and outsourced, while Choi maintains that the game will still be running and receive updates and improvements. Which version of events is the honest one is a bit unclear at the moment, but we offer our condolences to Faxion Online development members affected by these layoffs.
