"Citing anonymous sources, the site claims that all of Mythic's playtesters were let go, along with 21 customer service employees and half of its quality assurance team."
Could very well still be Polycounters. Not everyone here at PC are professional artists at the companies, some have other positions (such as QA) while trying to work their way to their desired positions.
Yeah, who needs QA anyway? Not to mention playtesting, I mean who cares if the game is, fun right? And since without these the game gonna be a boring bugfest anyway noone wants to buy why not also cut customer service and save a ton of money!
Yeah, who needs QA anyway? Not to mention playtesting, I mean who cares if the game is, fun right? And since without these the game gonna be a boring bugfest anyway noone wants to buy why not also cut customer service and save a ton of money!
Admit it, it all makes perfect sense. :poly124:
I'm surprised they hired that kind of staff full time and not on contract.
Think about it, the games out, so the big rush of people they hired leading up to and through release, are now redundant.
So they should start running in the red to support people they no longer need? I'm all for helping people out, but its a business not a charity. If you're working in QA or CS especially on an MMO you have to know walking in why they didn't offer you to buy into the retirement plan.
It's always sad to hear that people are out of work but really you can't expect companies to hang onto more staff then it needs. Maybe if Mythic was privately owned they might have kept more people on and let it eat into their profits, maybe. But they're part of EA now... When you lay down with the mob you gotta be prepared to wake up with the fishes... But who knows maybe these where internal cuts?
Hopefully War is doing well and things aren't starting to unravel. I know in the past it was a great idea for a company to sell to a publisher but what was once a life ring is now a boat anchor...
Could very well still be Polycounters. Not everyone here at PC are professional artists at the companies, some have other positions (such as QA) while trying to work their way to their desired positions.
Bad news, still.
Not really, in relative terms. At least now there aren't 40 more experienced artists vying for positions people new to the industry might get.
Heard EA layed around 100 off here in Vancouver at Blackbox as well. Not sure if it's true yet though. :P
Don't know if there were many layoffs, but the dev team was relocated to Burnaby. Blackbox had a beautiful but expensive office building. Cutting down on rent, that's all.
Not really, in relative terms. At least now there aren't 40 more experienced artists vying for positions people new to the industry might get.
Well, in relative terms I have the sexiest body the world has ever laid eyes upon, and I am also the wealthiest man to have ever walked the planet. Though I get your point.
Don't know if there were many layoffs, but the dev team was relocated to Burnaby. Blackbox had a beautiful but expensive office building. Cutting down on rent, that's all.
Yea, but apparently they're planning a bit of housekeeping before moving the Blackbox guys up to EAC.
Seems that I'm not the only one to hear of this rumour.
This is pretty standard practice though, isn't it? You ship your title and then take all the testers off the pay roll until you need them again in a few months time for the next title.
This is pretty standard practice though, isn't it? You ship your title and then take all the testers off the pay roll until you need them again in a few months time for the next title.
Typically they're contract employees, so you let their contract lapse, not full timers. If these guys were hired on full-time EA had been planning on keeping them around. I'd imagine EA probably shares some QA work between studios and as a result thought it was wise to keep their better testers on a permanent payroll...until they needed to bump their Q3/4 costs
and since anytime i've fedback about a bug, or issue, i've had a response (not automated either ) within a couple of hours. i don't think they're particularly swamped with issues.
EA is opening up a world wide testing facility in Louisiana.
I'm sure there's going to be all kinds of QA layoffs when that is up and running.
Seriously? You think so? I mean, EA is a world-wide corporation. It is hard to imagine that they would choose anywhere stateside to launch a world wide testing facitlity...
Seriously? You think so? I mean, EA is a world-wide corporation. It is hard to imagine that they would choose anywhere stateside to launch a world wide testing facitlity...
I dunno, makes sense to me.
Presumably they'd want to test games that will be for western audiences on western testers. That pretty much means that they might as well open it up in a western country, which means that the states is as good as anywhere else.
In my mind QA and focus testing or whatever are two different things. I'm sure an eastern-cultured tester would be just as good as a western one at finding bugs.
I suppose it's the way our titles within different companies work. An art director at EA might have different responsibilities than one at 2K.
Seriously? You think so? I mean, EA is a world-wide corporation. It is hard to imagine that they would choose anywhere stateside to launch a world wide testing facitlity...
A putting the first-of-its-kind video game testing center in the U.S. right here in Baton Rouge is a terrific win for the city and the future of our state. We know our economic development initiatives have to be aggressive, but they must also be innovative, and EA has both of these important attributes.
This testing center will create 20 full time jobs, and more than 200 part-time jobs for LSU students who will get paid to play video games. I know this will be a dream job for some kids, but it is also a key part of strengthening our state's economic development so we become the best place in the world to do business and all of our children can stay right here at home to pursue their dreams. This job win is a critical step in creating a digital media economy that will generate even more high-paying high tech jobs and help us compete for even more jobs within EA in the future.
Replies
Heard EA layed around 100 off here in Vancouver at Blackbox as well. Not sure if it's true yet though. :P
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56825
Bad news, still.
Admit it, it all makes perfect sense. :poly124:
Think about it, the games out, so the big rush of people they hired leading up to and through release, are now redundant.
So they should start running in the red to support people they no longer need? I'm all for helping people out, but its a business not a charity. If you're working in QA or CS especially on an MMO you have to know walking in why they didn't offer you to buy into the retirement plan.
It's always sad to hear that people are out of work but really you can't expect companies to hang onto more staff then it needs. Maybe if Mythic was privately owned they might have kept more people on and let it eat into their profits, maybe. But they're part of EA now... When you lay down with the mob you gotta be prepared to wake up with the fishes... But who knows maybe these where internal cuts?
Hopefully War is doing well and things aren't starting to unravel. I know in the past it was a great idea for a company to sell to a publisher but what was once a life ring is now a boat anchor...
Not really, in relative terms. At least now there aren't 40 more experienced artists vying for positions people new to the industry might get.
Don't know if there were many layoffs, but the dev team was relocated to Burnaby. Blackbox had a beautiful but expensive office building. Cutting down on rent, that's all.
Yea, but apparently they're planning a bit of housekeeping before moving the Blackbox guys up to EAC.
Seems that I'm not the only one to hear of this rumour.
http://kotaku.com/5135238/rumor-announced-ea-layoffs-coming-to-blackbox
Typically they're contract employees, so you let their contract lapse, not full timers. If these guys were hired on full-time EA had been planning on keeping them around. I'd imagine EA probably shares some QA work between studios and as a result thought it was wise to keep their better testers on a permanent payroll...until they needed to bump their Q3/4 costs
it's fun.
and since anytime i've fedback about a bug, or issue, i've had a response (not automated either
I'm sure there's going to be all kinds of QA layoffs when that is up and running.
Seriously? You think so? I mean, EA is a world-wide corporation. It is hard to imagine that they would choose anywhere stateside to launch a world wide testing facitlity...
I dunno, makes sense to me.
Presumably they'd want to test games that will be for western audiences on western testers. That pretty much means that they might as well open it up in a western country, which means that the states is as good as anywhere else.
I suppose it's the way our titles within different companies work. An art director at EA might have different responsibilities than one at 2K.
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/08/20/ea-louisiana-partner-new-qa-facility-lsu
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172377