Rumor: GamersFirst lays off 32 staffers, CFO [Updated]
If the rumors are true, today has not been the best of days for MMO industry staffers. Hot on the heels of our NCsoft layoff story comes distressing news for fans of GamersFirst, as we've just received an anonymous tip concerning the apparent dismissal of 32 people from the firm's west coast office.
According to our tipster, "Most of the APB team was let go. A lot of the support staff was let go. The development team was not, to my knowledge, so the game is still being developed in Scotland." We've also been told that GamersFirst's CFO was let go.
We've reached out to G1 for clarification on this story, and as of press time there is no official word on the staffing decisions or how the shake-up will affect Fallen Earth and the rest of the company's free-to-play lineup.
[Updated: Reader alacritythief let us know that GamersFirst's Revoemnag and TechMech have responded to the layoffs in regard to APB's future. Their comments are just behind the break.]
From Revoemag:
Hey guys, since everyone went (understandably) crazy over Neume announcing that he is no longer part of the APB:R Project, I'm just going to explain a few things to reassure people. To explain, G1 has done a slight management reshuffle, and as such Neume has moved on from G1, this has absolutely zero to do with APB:R's financial situation (Which is FINE by the way) or the security or future of the APB:R Project. Neume was one of the producers for APB:R but he was not the only producer, and I believe his position has been filled by someone with equal talent. At this time there is absolutely nothing to worry about, all the core staff are still here at Reloaded and Gamersfirst. I repeat, there is absolutely nothing to panic about. We are very sorry that Neume is no longer part of the team, and he will be missed by the RP and G1 team for his knowledge and experience and we all wish him well on his journey.
From TechMech:
Hi lovely conspiracy filled APB community! Yes it is true that as of today there are certain individuals who are no longer with the company here in California. Clearly under various employment laws there are no way I or anyone else can discuss this with anyone on a message board. You are more than welcome to use this thread to speculate (until it's filled up that is), though not much good will of course come of this. I do want to make it absolutely clear - that APB is continuing, no people from the development studio are or will be affected by these changes, and tomorrow we will have others like Quinzle and her team who will continue running the show for APB community management and general production tasks.
Another from TechMech:
Due to 'rumors' from a 'tipsters' at Massively, I want to make sure everyone are completely clear on what changes have been done at APB/GamersFirst/Reloaded today (and still pending an official release from powers that be).
As of today 4 people are no longer with the APB US Publishing team. 2 NEW people have been ADDED to the APB US Publishing team (at the same time). In net there are 2 fewer fulltime people on the US staff for APB.
NO changes have been made to the APB development team, nor to APB the Service teams outside of California, and in fact the services teams outside California will be expanded over the next several weeks.
Massively will continue updating this post with the latest news.
