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Disney shutters LucasArts
Following Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and its related companies and properties, gaming fans have wondered what might happen to developer LucasArts. Out of all of the possible scenarios, the worst has happened: Disney has stopped development in the studio and laid off its employees. From the official Disney statement: "After evaluating our position in the games market, we've decided to shift LucasArts from an internal development to a licensing model, minimizing the company's risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality Star Wars games. As a result of this change, we've had layoffs across the organization. We are incredibly appreciative and proud of the talented teams who have been developing our new titles." Massively conveys its sympathies to those affected by the decision. There's no word yet how this might affect Star Wars: The Old Republic, if at all.
Around 40 employees laid off at Gas Powered Games [Update: Chris Taylor explains timing]
Gas Powered Games, the development studio responsible for the Dungeon Siege series and one that has recently launched an ambitious Kickstarter campaign, is undergoing a round of layoffs, Kotaku reports.While anonymous sources claim that virtually the entire company has been let go, save for CEO Chris Taylor and a small handful of others, the only official word is that layoffs are indeed underway, and that more information will be posted to the Wildman Kickstarter soon. We've reached out to Gas Powered Games to learn more about the severity of the situation, as well as what these layoffs may mean for the studio's future projects.Update: Gas Powered Games boss Chris Taylor tells Joystiq about 40 employees have been affected by layoffs. Taylor says it was a "Very tough decision, but an important one such that I could properly pay severance and remaining [paid-time off]."Taylor wouldn't go into specifics about his studio's future, but he further clarified that those affected understood the timing of the decision, despite how sudden it may have appeared in the press."I think everyone agrees better to have a few bucks to find the next job that run this train to the end and have nothing left to work with. It's one thing for me to bet the company, but I can't bet their last severance money, that's not cool," he said. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Taylor said he was betting his company on the success of the studios' first Kickstarter project, Wildman.
Turbine hit with unspecified number of layoffs
The Boston Globe is reporting that Turbine has laid off an unspecified number of employees today due to restructuring. It's unclear how many of the 400-person workforce were let go. Warner Bros. Entertainment Group Spokeswoman Remi Sklar issued the following statement: "As part of the continual review of our business operations and fluctuating market conditions, we have had to make reductions in our Turbine workforce. The group continues to remain an integral part of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment." Former Community Specialist Suzie Owen acknowledged on Twitter that she was one of those let go: "Looking for work in the Boston-Providence area. Any links would be most appreciated. I am unable to relocate at this time." Turbine recently hired several game industry veterans to include in its teams. Massively contacted Turbine for further clarification and received the same quote.
More OnLive management moves: Perlman out, as investor Lauder settles for Chairman
As the OnLive storm continues to ride itself out, details of who the winners and losers are (mainly losers) keep washing up on the shore. Today's casualty seems to be CEO Steve Perlman himself, who -- just days after the firm reinventing itself -- is "departing to work on his myriad of other projects." In his place the former COO, Charlie Jablonski, is temporarily taking the reins, as well as continuing his role as head of operations in the new organization. Finally, completing this wave of announcements, is the news that chief investor, Gary lauder, will officially take the title of Chairman. So, as the new incarnation settles into its new structure, we'll just have to sit tight, waiting to see what the next chapter in the OnLive story is.
OnLive officially announces asset acquisition, notes that its newly formed company will keep OnLive name
Amid the rumors, sourced reports and statements, it was easy to lose track of the facts surrounding OnLive's recent restructuring efforts. No surprise then, that the newly formed outfit has issued a press release and FAQ (after the break) in hopes will clear things up. First and foremost, the firm reiterates that the streaming game service will continue operating uninterrupted, and that the "newly formed company" that acquired the firm's assets will continue to do business under the OnLive name. The announcement also mentions the Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) process OnLive used to settle its debts, noting that "an affiliate" of Lauder Partners, a technology investment firm, was the new OnLive's first investor. Finally, the firm laments the necessity of laying off its staff, stating that "neither OnLive, Inc. shares nor OnLive staff could transfer under this type of transaction," confirming that nearly half of the previous staff had been offered positions at the new company, and optimistically projecting future hires culled from both previous and new employees. The new OnLive calls the asset acquisition "a heartbreaking transition for everyone involved," but looks optimistically to a future of "transforming the OnLive vision into reality." Check out OnLive's full, official word on the matter below.
OnLive hits reset after being dragged down by expensive servers, confirms service will continue
OnLive has finally issued an official statement after rumors of mass layoffs first leaked out earlier today, confirming that its assets have been acquired into a newly-formed company with what it claims is "substantial" financial backing. The big news for users is that the OnLive Game and Desktop services will remain operational and continue to be supported. The release also claims a "large percentage" of OnLive staff is being hired into the new company with plans to hire more over time, while PR informs us the leadership team remains intact. Check the words straight from the source after the break. We've heard from some of the people present for the meeting where the new plan was revealed today, confirming the company is going through a process known as Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC). A faster alternative to bankruptcy that doesn't involve the courts, it allows OnLive to deal with some of the issues it was facing, most notably an oversupply of servers for the number of users it had signed up. The ABC process allows OnLive to be unshackled from the expensive server contracts and bring in a new source of venture capital. Oh and that other major cost, the employees? Not all of the information is known yet, but beyond the loss of jobs, it turns out the stock they owned was in a company that no longer exists. We're hearing their benefits will end after August, however there are offers of contracts to answer questions about important topics like "where things are," in exchange for special form stock in the new venture. Update: Joystiq has more information from a former employee, who estimated the average number of peak concurrent OnLive users at around 1,800 or so, and the amount of retained staff in the range of 20 percent. One other tidbit? The source expects OnLive to go after recent Sony acquisition Gaikai for infringement of a game streaming patent, so stay tuned.
RIM reportedly firing up to 6,000 in $1 billion savings drive
The Waterloo Record is reporting that RIM is laying off a portion of its workforce as part of its cost-cutting review process. It's believed that between 2,000 and 6,000 employees could be let go as the troubled company attempts to save $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year. Company watcher Martin Chmiel took to Twitter to say that the manufacturing team had been hardest hit, with hundreds of people departing in the past 24 hours.
BioWare responds to SWTOR layoffs
If anyone knows just how brutal and unforgiving the MMO industry can be, it is certainly the folks at BioWare. Last week delivered a one-two punch to the studio, as the team had to contend with layoffs while breaking the news of server merges to the playerbase. Star Wars: The Old Republic Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi admitted that this came with the territory: "The MMO is the toughest part of the game industry without a doubt, and we live in tough economic times in general." Despite the layoffs, Lusinchi said that the development team is still "one of the biggest" in the industry and has detailed plans for SWTOR's future. Still, that didn't make dealing with the realities of the job cuts any easier. "On a personal level it's quite difficult to have people that you've been working with for a long time that you know personally, you go to their barbecue and you meet their families and it's never easy," he said. "I doubt it'd be easy in any industry for anyone, but it happens."
Activision to reduce headcount by around 500
While we like to imagine that all the folks working on the projects Activision canceled today will just be moved to working on even cooler games while sitting in even more comfortable chairs, the company seems set on thwarting our inner Pollyanna. During an investor's call today, the company said it will release seven percent of its workforce, tantamount to around 500 people. There is sort of a silver lining looking at the company as a whole though according to COO and CFO Thomas Tippl, who said the company's size would level out by year's end. "We are making significant investment elsewhere," he said. "Our net head count at the end of the year is probably not going to be materially different given that we're ramping up development teams around Blizzard's new MMO and around the Call of Duty initiatives." That is, of course, cold comfort to those being let go, so here's hoping they find gainful employment soon.
Activision closing Bizarre Creations [Update: Activision confirms, options include 'potential sale']
Well, this blows. Beginning with a NeoGAF thread and followed up by Giant Bomb and VG247, comes rumor that Activision is closing Bizarre Creations, the studio behind the just-released Bond title Bloodstone. It was responsible for Blur, The Club, the Project Gotham Racing series, and downloadable favorite Geometry Wars. The studio, founded in 1994, was acquired by Activision just over three years ago. Giant Bomb's source says that Bizzarre Creations will undergo a "90-day consultation period, statutory redundancy." That sounds ... bad. According to the VG247 report, the cuts would mean a loss of over 200 staffers. We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything official. Stay tuned. [Update: Getting some context for the above quote: Apparently Bizarre isn't closed yet; the 90-day period is required in the UK (where Bizarre is located) before shuttering a business. That 90-day period also serves as a 90-day notice to employees that their company is likely to be closed/sold/downsized/etc. – an official statement should be along shortly.] [Update 2 2:01pm: Activision's statement: "Over the past three years since our purchase of Bizarre Creations, the fundamentals of the racing genre have changed significantly. Although we made a substantial investment in creating a new IP, Blur, it did not find a commercial audience. Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business."] [Update 3 5:55pm: Activision additionally confirmed the closure of Budcat Creations, as well as redundancies in its California-based quality assurance team.]
Dell to shutter US plant, cut 900 jobs, generally mess up someone's holiday
A report just crossing the wires says that Dell is slated to close one of its US manufacturing plants and cut about 900 jobs -- though that's a pittance compared to the approximately 76,500 workers Dell employs. The company's Winston-Salem, North Carolina desktop production facility will shut down come January 2010, though Dell says around 600 employees will hit the road in November -- just in time for the Holidays. The company says the closure is "part of an ongoing initiative to enhance the long-term value it delivers to customers by simplifying operations and improving efficiency," or as we'd put it, "it looks good on the books." Obviously this isn't the happiest news for the employees being cut, but it's also a familiar tune given the economic events of the past year.
Raven Software confirms layoffs, new size 'reflects' upcoming work load
It seems the unfortunate rumors we've been hearing to this effect for some time are true -- Raven Software has confirmed that a round of layoffs recently hit the developer (reports range from 30 to 56 folks cut from the studio's 180-man staff). Raven and Activision issued a statement explaining that after releasing X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Wolfenstein so close together, the Raven is "slightly reducing its workforce to better reflect the studio's upcoming slate," which only includes the development of Singularity. Of course, other reports include unconfirmed, cause-and-effect-esque reasons for the layoffs. Kotaku reports that sources have attributed the firings to the over-budget (and underselling) Wolfenstein, as well as the holiday-to-Q1 delay of Singularity. Regardless of the reason for the downsizing, we hope the affected parties can get back on their feet with a quickness.
Atomic Games unable to secure funding for Six Days in Fallujah, reduces staff
(click to embiggen) Citing a lack of "full-scale funding" for controversial game Six Days in Fallujah, Atomic Games is reporting today that it's trimming staff. According to Atomic, the 75 employees of the studio remained until this week when an undisclosed amount were let go. Though the developer assures the "dozens of Marine veterans" who have spent "hundreds of hours in this project" that it will "fight on," we worry that this is just one more sign of a likely to-be-canceled game. After Konami dropped out as the game's publisher back in April, Six Days in Fallujah's fate has been up in the air. It probably doesn't help that rumors circulated yesterday about the studio's creative lead hitting the road for (presumably) greener pastures. We've reached out to Atomic for further information about those let who were let go and will update this post as we hear more.%Gallery-49389%
Motorola hastens layoff plans, axes 400 earlier than anticipated
The words "job security" and "Motorola" haven't coexisted in a non-sarcastic manner for quite some time, and things just seem to be deteriorating by the day. Not even two full months after the flagging company announced that 3,000 employees would be sent packing, a new Reuters report has it that the axing process in Q4 will be accelerated. Specifically, some 1,900 (versus 1,500 as originally predicted) will be cut in an attempt to save $800 million in 2009, though there's no word on how damaging the inevitable productivity losses will be given the markedly low morale. To no one's surprise, most of the Q4 cuts will be in the mobile devices segment; we're beginning to think Sad Moto Face™ here will never, ever vanish.[Via UnwiredView]
Sharp closing down two LCD panel production lines, hacking 380 jobs
It's not pulling a Sony or anything, but even Sharp has been unable to absorb the downturn in flat-panel demand. We already knew that the firm was looking to scale back production by as much as 10% from the middle of this month, and our deductive reasoning skills are leading us to believe that this is the cutback we've been expecting. The outfit will be closing down two LCD panel production lines in Japan in order to "move production to a newer and more cost-efficient plant as the global downturn hits demand for electronic goods." Along with the closings will come 380 job cuts -- all temporary workers -- which will presumably be sent home when the lines halt for the final time in January.
Modu reportedly lays off around 25% of its employees
Who's praying now, Modu? The once cocky and altogether promising handset maker has apparently fallen on tough times, with a recent TalkingMobile report suggesting that around one-quarter of its staff (including a few executives) has been told to head home. The reason? Aside from the obvious "the economy" cop out, the company has also been hit hard by launch delays and the inability to land a carrier partner willing to shell out for promotions. Granted, this is far from the end of Modu -- there's still cash to be burnt and avenues to walk down, but we'd probably skip over it when sending out job applications right now.[Via IntoMobile]
SK Telecom no longer casting glances in Sprint's direction
We've been hearing about a possible SK Telecom-Sprint tie-up since July of 2007, but if either firm ever hoped to actually tie the proverbial knot -- well, let's just say that ship has sailed. Given the weakening economy and the general tendency to resist taking risks right about now, the Korean giant has dropped its plans to partner with Sprint in any form or fashion. In related news, Sprint is looking to hop on the quickly expanding layoff bandwagon, but given its humongous Q3 loss, we suppose that's not totally illogical. We're told that the carrier is offering "voluntary buyout packages" to an unspecified number of employees, which is far more awesome than the "thanks, now get the hell out of here" line that's being handed down by so many other firms. Crazy times, we tell you.[Via Boy Genius Report]
UIQ Technology puts entire staff on notice of dismissal
Ugh, this is just downright depressing no matter how you spin it. Sure, it's just the reality of business and all, but it's no fun to hear that 270 staffers will soon be looking for employment when UIQ Technology finishes climbing into the grave. After hacking 200 jobs in June and being coined "dead" by Sony Ericsson's Patrick Olson, All About Symbian has it that the company has put its remaining employees "on notice of dismissal." We're told that SE has agreed to "continue funding the company on a by month by month basis in order to allow it to investigate options for the future," but from the outside looking in, we'd say the outlook is bleak. Thankfully, it sounds like those affected will at least be assisted as they exit, but now would probably be an opportune time to shed a tear for UIQ as we knew it.
Motorola to layoff 3,000 employees, most of 'em in handset division
To be honest, we were surprised that we didn't hear this number along with the other doom and gloom professed during Motorola's Q3 earnings call, but the writing was very clearly on the wall. As part of the mentioned $800 million expenditure cut planned for 2009, 3,000 (more) of Moto's employees will be looking for work elsewhere. According to an unnamed spokeswoman, a "little over two-thirds of those layoffs [will be] in the handset division." And just think -- if Moto would only use all those hands to get an Android-powered phone out before "entirely too long from now," maybe these cuts wouldn't even be necessary. Maybe.
HP making changes within Voodoo?
Here's a curious one -- merely months after HP essentially revitalized the Voodoo brand and cranked out the undeniably sexy Envy 133 laptop / Omen desktop, in flies word that the branch may be broken in the foreseeable future. In response to rumors that the Voodoo PC division would be canned entirely, Rahul Sood (yeah, the same guy that pimped an undisclosed new gizmo barely a week ago) stated that "HP is working on a plan to better leverage its existing resources to bring Voodoo products to market faster and make them more accessible to consumers." An HP spokeswoman was also quoted as saying that "[it] continually assesses and re-balances the size of its work force relative to the business environment and market conditions." In other words, no one is denying nor confirming the whispers, and while we have our own suspicions about what that means, we'll let you make of it what you wish.[Via CNET]
