Just heard this myself, that is the 4th company in the Dallas area to have shut it's doors in the past year ( Ensemble Studios at the end of the year. ) Id is still looking for a character artist, along with 3 environment positions so if anyone is in need, please drop me a line. Best of luck to those hit with this, and really hope that all these company closings stop.
Damn, what is going on around here. Sorry to hear another studio closing down. Anyone affected can hit me up at kcarvalho@blizzard.com. We have several art positions open across all our teams.
Not a good year for Texas game development, particularly the Dallas area. From what I remember, Paradigm, Ensemble, Midway, NCSoft, KingsIsle, MumboJumbo, Barking Lizards, and Gearbox all either laid off a number of employees or closed shop in '08.
Quite a few publishers are "cleaning house" and shutting down studios, I was affected by THQ's cutbacks earlier this year, been seeing their stock fall and lineup dwindle for over a year now.
Really hope all the talent let go lands new jobs quickly and smoothly!
yeah i was in the first round of layoffs there earlier this year, and then ended up at Ensemble! sucks seeing another studio in Dallas bite the dust. Best of luck on the job search guys, I'l be doing the same when Ensemble closes its doors.
Yeah, they let a few dozen go in the last couple weeks. I know lee3dee was one of them, I think he was in the initial round and then they laid off another 10 or so last week.
It's time like this I'm glad I work for the big M.
Sorry to hear about this if anyone is affected. I liked Paradigm a lot. Their work on Pilotwings64 put them in my books forever.
I was at Helixe (one of the studios that closed). It was definitely disappointing, it was a great place to work. These things happen though, I guess. Hopefully it turns out well for everyone affected.
Yeah, they let a few dozen go in the last couple weeks. I know lee3dee was one of them, I think he was in the initial round and then they laid off another 10 or so last week.
What's your source on this? It's been more like A dozen total (if that) and was definitely not "10 or so" last week.
Wow, maybe I should switch where I am gearing my efforts towards getting hired? All these places in Dallas closing...
Is it economy? Bad season? or what? Are there this many studios closing around the US, or just Dallas? I have a hard time keeping up with current affairs?
A lot of the studios being shut down are owned by publishers, and they're cleaning house and consolidating the studios they own. With the current budgets of these games now days, you can't afford to have studios that don't produce quality titles anymore.
It feels good to be independent and privately owned.
I'm sure some of this has to do with the economy and publishers having limited access to new capital. Companies like THQ, EA, Take2, and Midway have seen their market cap drop by over 50% from last year and probably have less money to expand their business.
I've also heard that a shakeup tends to happen a year or two after every new console cycle. Some companies figure out how to be profitable right off the bat, some take some reconfiguring, and others end up going under.
A lot of the studios being shut down are owned by publishers, and they're cleaning house and consolidating the studios they own. With the current budgets of these games now days, you can't afford to have studios that don't produce quality titles anymore.
It feels good to be independent and privately owned.
I think the season also plays into it. This is when next years budgets are being decided and theres some down time between the frenzy to release by Nov for the shopping season and when next years budget kicks in. Someone's getting the axe, especially when they won't need that same level of staff for a while.
But like you said, its a scary time to be owned by a publisher. It's sad when publishers saw their own legs off trying to win a race. And yea I'm VERY glad we are also our own publisher and privately owned. Not only for stability but also because more cash flows in from sales.
I saw this coming.
I mean with all the consolidation it was bound to happen sooner than later. I mean publishers were dropping hundreds of millions to own a studio and then had to wait 2-3 years in hopes that they'd make a hit that would return maybe a fraction of that initial investment if they were lucky. In some cases, it'd take 10+ years of delivering hit after hit for a publisher to make back their money on a studio buyout. How can these publishers keep up the massive overhead of these 60-200+ companies?! I still don't get why a publisher is so hard up to buy a studio. In most cases, they already own the IP, and make a considerable share on the sales of the titles. By buying up the studio they now have to cover all the benefits, legal crap with employees, hiring and overhead that happens once the title is shipped.
If publishers back off from acquiring studios they could return to working with more independent studios. I could see this being a pretty exciting time for those of us that like the start up vibe.
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modeling_man... it's funny because what you described seems to be the thought process happening at Microsoft recently. They've been letting a lot of internal studios go and seem to be concentrating more on relationships with external developers.
So yea, you definitely must be right, I imagine other large publishers are starting to get into the same headspace.
It actually seems to be somewhat of a cycle in the industry. Publishers decide that it is cheaper to use external development studios and begin shutting down all of their internal studios. In a few years they will decide that internal development gives them more control over the end product and start buying up studios once again. Rinse and repeat.
So will all of these employee's be absorbed into other companies?
Will more independently owned companies be created?
I understand it takes money to create games, pay employees, and whatnot, but between all of these people laid off in Dallas, why not start another company? I know there is someone out there with money and a building?
I imagine a couple small start ups will emerge. I figure with the immediate economic climate trying to get a loan may prove to be a major obstacle. However, I figure a couple will manage. Perhaps, by contracting to the bigger studios that are now crunching like crazy to make up for the increased pressure to be on time. Or they'll just live off savings and shoot for the moon. The rest will move on to greener pastures by either getting picked up at a local studio or going abroad. A tiny proportion will throw their hands up in defeat and go into a new career.
rinse/repeat
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Replies
Spark
-Kenny
Sounds like THQ is cleaning house a bit.
I hope Vigil and Relic aren't on the list.
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Really hope all the talent let go lands new jobs quickly and smoothly!
http://kotaku.com/5075080/thq-shuttering-four-to-five-studios-including-paradigm-juice
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We're looking at Blue Fang, for an Env Artist and for a Sr Animator. Send a PM if interested.
Good luck to all.
Sorry to hear about this if anyone is affected. I liked Paradigm a lot. Their work on Pilotwings64 put them in my books forever.
What's your source on this? It's been more like A dozen total (if that) and was definitely not "10 or so" last week.
/shrug
Yep.
Is it economy? Bad season? or what? Are there this many studios closing around the US, or just Dallas? I have a hard time keeping up with current affairs?
Good luck to those that need it.
A lot of the studios being shut down are owned by publishers, and they're cleaning house and consolidating the studios they own. With the current budgets of these games now days, you can't afford to have studios that don't produce quality titles anymore.
It feels good to be independent and privately owned.
I've also heard that a shakeup tends to happen a year or two after every new console cycle. Some companies figure out how to be profitable right off the bat, some take some reconfiguring, and others end up going under.
But like you said, its a scary time to be owned by a publisher. It's sad when publishers saw their own legs off trying to win a race. And yea I'm VERY glad we are also our own publisher and privately owned. Not only for stability but also because more cash flows in from sales.
I mean with all the consolidation it was bound to happen sooner than later. I mean publishers were dropping hundreds of millions to own a studio and then had to wait 2-3 years in hopes that they'd make a hit that would return maybe a fraction of that initial investment if they were lucky. In some cases, it'd take 10+ years of delivering hit after hit for a publisher to make back their money on a studio buyout. How can these publishers keep up the massive overhead of these 60-200+ companies?! I still don't get why a publisher is so hard up to buy a studio. In most cases, they already own the IP, and make a considerable share on the sales of the titles. By buying up the studio they now have to cover all the benefits, legal crap with employees, hiring and overhead that happens once the title is shipped.
If publishers back off from acquiring studios they could return to working with more independent studios. I could see this being a pretty exciting time for those of us that like the start up vibe.
B
So yea, you definitely must be right, I imagine other large publishers are starting to get into the same headspace.
Will more independently owned companies be created?
I understand it takes money to create games, pay employees, and whatnot, but between all of these people laid off in Dallas, why not start another company? I know there is someone out there with money and a building?
Just typing out loud...
rinse/repeat
B