SOE Layoffs and Studio Closures

Hamma · 2011-03-31, 09:28 AM

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...sures-2461.htm

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...nding-2462.htm

Hamma · 2011-03-31, 09:28 AM

Dislike.

Miir · 2011-03-31, 09:45 AM

Damn it's not even April 1st.

Hamma · 2011-03-31, 09:59 AM

Hopefully this is not the announcement we have been waiting for.

Tigersmith · 2011-03-31, 10:35 AM

This is awful.

krnasaur · 2011-03-31, 11:20 AM

I think this is the reason we did not get the announcement we were waiting for.

DviddLeff · 2011-03-31, 12:20 PM

Facts:

1. Smedley, president of SOE, yesterday said that PS2 is getting a lot more people working on it.

2. DCU and Free Realms (console) just launched, both SOE products, and therefore need less staff working on them.

3. The Agency never seemed like a solid idea for a game, especially as its going to be in direct competition with DUST, and perhaps PS2.

Nephilimuk · 2011-03-31, 12:43 PM

nothing new to report. Lots of work going on. A lot of new team members going onto it helping out. I mean a lot.

I read this as more people being reassigned to the project. BUT that is my interpretation of the above statement which to be honest is ambiguous.

I have had to perform a similar exercise regarding the rationalising of a software company.

Generally the decisions are not made lightly and if the organisation is a going concern the cuts have to be done in such a way to ensure that they do not impede earning potential.

It makes sense to look at your pipeline and determine what you consider as a going concern moving forward and what is expendable. If the return is not going to meet the initial outlay or you have another project that has greater earning potential then it makes sense to drop the first and assign more resources to the second to reduce the time to market. Planetside is an established brand which may or may not count for something.

We don't know what is happening, but no point going all gloomy yet.

Don't forget closure does not mean right now it can mean any time in the future after the delivery of a project. I could also mean that the work may be moving to another geographical location.

I do hope the employees found out though before the tweets as that would just suck if not...

If anyone at SOE is reading this, all the best and I am sure what ever happens will work out best for you in the long run.

Nobel · 2011-03-31, 01:15 PM

While my best wishes go out to the families and those affected by these decisions, this might be able to be seen as an imminent sign of an announcement.

Companies will often hold announcements of good news, to give right after bad news; lets hope that, we might be seeing the announcement for Planetside NEXT in the next few weeks/days.

Raymac · 2011-03-31, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by DviddLeff

Facts:

1. Smedley, president of SOE, yesterday said that PS2 is getting a lot more people working on it.

2. DCU and Free Realms (console) just launched, both SOE products, and therefore need less staff working on them.

3. The Agency never seemed like a solid idea for a game, especially as its going to be in direct competition with DUST, and perhaps PS2.

Well thank you. That certainly seems very logical and makes me feel alot better about the future of PS:N.

Having said that, it's terrible news for those who are being laid off. The economy is still in bad shape, the job market is struggling, and even in the best of times losing your job hurts. Hopefully they can land on their feet.

Arkanakaz · 2011-03-31, 02:00 PM

Just to spread the information, PlanetSide Next is being designed/developed by SOE in San Diego. Evidence is half way down (7th post) in this thread.

Raymac · 2011-03-31, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by Arkanakaz

Just to spread the information, PlanetSide Next is being designed/developed by SOE in San Diego. Evidence is half way down (7th post) in this thread.

True, and we know T-Ray is working on PS:N and his LinkedIn says he is currently working with SOE San Diego even though he used to be with the Seattle office.

Stay classy, San Diego.

Arkanakaz · 2011-03-31, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by Raymac

True, and we know T-Ray is working on PS:N and his LinkedIn says he is currently working with SOE San Diego even though he used to be with the Seattle office.

Stay classy, San Diego.

Of course things could have changed since this post a month and a half back and the development may be in other SOE studios now; if it is true more are working on it.

Hamma · 2011-03-31, 03:04 PM

I've added a new article with some additional news.

http://www.planetside-universe.com/n...nding-2462.htm

A bit bittersweet, looks like we will be waiting a bit longer for PSN.

DviddLeff · 2011-03-31, 03:07 PM

Cheers Hamma, thanks for the extra info.

He did say a **little** later in the year