Update: Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed 205 jobs have been cut. Three studios have been closed. The MMO shooter, The Agency, has also been canceled. The closures and lay-offs were part of a "strategic decision."
Reports are coming in that massive layoffs have taken place at several Sony Online Entertainment studios. SOE, the makers of D.C. Universe and Free Realms, have closed three studios and are expected to lay-off one-third of their workforce.
The rumors began last night when George Broussard, the co-creator of Duke Nukem Forever, tweeted that "Word that Sony Online Entertainment Seattle is having layoffs and that studio closure is possible." Kotaku was able to confirm through their own sources that closures affected studios in Seattle, Tuscon and Denver. According to their sources half of the staff at SOE Austin received pink slips, the same goes SOE San Diego.
An official statement was sent to Kotaku:
"As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios. As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games. All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern."
It's always sad to hear about people loosing their jobs.
Source: Kotaku
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coldenhas
coldenhas's comment is abusive and has been removed.
ShinjiEx
Sorry about the multi post I reported them site glitch early on me ^__^
ShinjiEx
ShinjiEx's comment is abusive and has been removed.
cdent4
Sorry to hear all of those folks lost their jobs. I can't speak for most of Sony's MMO games and how well, or badly, they are doing, but I can speak for SWG. Sony screwed the pooch when it first changed the game mechanics with the "Combat Upgrade", then further pushed people away when they revamped the game with the "New Game Enhancements (NGE)." So in essence, they've done this to themselves. They had a FANTASTIC game in SWG, and destroyed it through their lack of being in touch with the fanbase that was paying the $15 a month to play it. One more nail in the coffin of a once great game. Looking forward to The Old Republic this year. You can pretty much be gauranteed if SWG isn't dead by the time SWTOR comes out, it will be shortly afterward.
ShinjiEx
ShinjiEx's comment is abusive and has been removed.
ShinjiEx
Just to make it clear this has nothing to do with DCUO sells which were very well in fact SOE most selling game
But has to do with big wigs saving money and restructuring the company in general
Case and point all those employes who help make DCUO which needed a lot of man power and time are no longer needed and would be a waste of money to continue paying them and would not benefit DCUO in the long run
This is not a surprise to me an lot of people involved
ShinjiEx
Just to make it clear this has nothing to do with DCUO sells which were very well in fact SOE most selling game
But has to do with big wigs saving money and restructuring the company in general
Case and point all those employes who help make DCUO which needed a lot of man power and time are no longer needed and would be a waste of money to continue paying them and would not benefit DCUO in the long run
This is not a surprise to me an lot of people involved
ShinjiEx
Just to make it clear this has nothing to do with DCUO sells which were very well in fact SOE most selling game
But has to do with big wigs saving money and restructuring the company in general
Case and point all those employes who help make DCUO which needed a lot of man power and time are no longer needed and would be a waste of money to continue paying them and would not benefit DCUO in the long run
This is not a surprise to me an lot of people involved
DPsx72
MMO's are awful titles. They aren't even games, they're only glorified chatrooms. Not a big loss, except for the fact these people are out of a job.
macross2012
With Sony canceling the Agency just saved them MILLIONS of dollars. No one cared about this MMO. It was a horrible idea even on paper..
Vaelhan
Lost jobs do indeed suck, but that aside ... is this a conformation of EQ3 ? Please tell me we're going to see a EQ3, one more reminescent of eq1 than 2 but yeah that'd b dope. To this day I feel that the EQ pally/sk have been the only two tanks that have ever been done right, every game wants to restrict you to a certaint play style , or weapon class while not only could you play however you wanted spell wise, you could also use any class of weapon in the game and there were often things like daggers, or staves that would b awesome plus alternate advancement allowing you most customizeability than anything i've seen produced since. Once again , be awesome to see a new eq going back to the roots gameplay wise.
XenMastre
Noooo!! Will my dreams of a Planetside 2 ever come to fruition!?!?
My regrets to those who lost their jobs, all kidding aside. The job market is wretched these days.
TD_ThA_MoNsTa
My heart goes out to the people who lost their jobs. Hope that they find new work.
cardinalsfan1122
That's too bad DCUO was great but the price for me was not worth it. Hope these guys can find other jobs though.
Klown789
After the PoS that was DCU and SOE's horrible costumer support can you really be that surprised?
Shuklar
Loosing a job sucks, yet one can always hope that this means they're putting SWG to rest.
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