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Starbreeze Layoffs

ae.
polycounter lvl 12
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ae. polycounter lvl 12
Sad news:

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/17/starbreeze-lets-25-go-after-finishing-syndicate/

hope everyone lands on there feet!
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  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    People say this is a common thing, and in the last few years it's become so. But it's not normal, it's bullshit. Sorry if anyone here was affected by the cuts.
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  • aivanov
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    aivanov polycounter lvl 5
    *their

    Anyone else getting tired of this (the layoff trends), honestly? I don't even know why I'm writing this as it'll do fuck-all.

    Good luck to those involved.
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  • MadnessImport
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    MadnessImport
    Why do they always Let go RIGHT after or RIGHT before the game is finished?
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  • JasonLavoie
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    JasonLavoie polycounter lvl 18
    They usually never say (in these initial articles) what positions were let go, and generally it's either Quality Assurance (contract based) or Admin... either way it's still jobs lost, and I agree with everyone here... it's getting very old, and I hate it being the "norm" as well...

    So what can we do as an industry to help prevent this in the long run? My main focus has always been strong as fack pre-prod to avoid a lot of un-needed costs and to at least be as prepared as possible when hit with road blocks along the way.

    Easier said then done, and i'm also still learning the in's and out's of the industry, but to call this the "norm" is really getting frustrating.
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  • eld
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    eld polycounter lvl 18
    JasonLavoie wrote: »
    They usually never say (in these initial articles) what positions were let go, and generally it's either Quality Assurance (contract based) or Admin... either way it's still jobs lost, and I agree with everyone here... it's getting very old, and I hate it being the "norm" as well...

    This is sweden though, which means last in first out.
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  • JasonLavoie
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    JasonLavoie polycounter lvl 18
    Oh yuh? Is this due to different laws in place?
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  • eld
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    eld polycounter lvl 18
    We have some specific laws surrounding the handling of layoffs, and specifically who gets to go, and in what order, but it might've been contract employed people.
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  • bejkon
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    bejkon polygon
    Sad news indeed.

    Just have a quick question for you guys following up on eld's post. If your contract runs out is it still considered to be "laid of" when you don't get an extension of your employment? I mean the difference is pretty big between that and getting laid of from a permanent position.
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  • Snefer
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    Snefer polycounter lvl 16
    No, its was not just quality assurance, it was artists etc aswell, bunch of friends of mine were affected. I think the contractors were already gone before this. Being an indie dev is not very forgiving.
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  • JasonLavoie
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    JasonLavoie polycounter lvl 18
    Bah sorry to hear Snefer :(
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  • Ged
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    Ged interpolator
    MadnessImport wrote: »
    Why do they always Let go RIGHT after or RIGHT before the game is finished?

    Just guessing but most likely because they know that the next game is only in prototype phase and only needs a small team for a time, maybe even a year before going flatout for the final year or 2 of production(during which time they will be hiring again). This really sucks, its one of the things that scares me about getting into big AAA games studios.
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  • IchII3D
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    IchII3D polycounter lvl 12
    I just hope the directors of Starbreeze didn't taken this decision lightly. Making lay off's not only damages the outlook on your company but it also throws knowledge and talent out the door. The longer your staff are with you and the lower your turn over the more independent and experienced your employees become. This means less middle management and more independent working which is more enjoyable and better for the game and studio. It allows you to empower your employees and not dishearten them by simply telling them what to do as they only got in the door a few months ago.
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  • skankerzero
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    skankerzero mod
    Ged wrote: »
    Just guessing but most likely because they know that the next game is only in prototype phase and only needs a small team for a time, maybe even a year before going flatout for the final year or 2 of production(during which time they will be hiring again). This really sucks, its one of the things that scares me about getting into big AAA games studios.

    You are correct.

    I mocked this up to illustrate it at it's most basic.

    dev_cycle01.jpg

    I'm not sure if that's what happened here, but this is why I'm a believer in a small core team and outsourcing / contracting.

    Of course if you have multiple projects, you can bounce your teams around as long as your projects are stair stepped in development.

    A lot of studios / publishers cannot adapt to this new way of thinking which is why there are a lot of layoffs on big budget games.
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  • IchII3D
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    IchII3D polycounter lvl 12
    Most development studios these days have two teams, an example would be Naughty Dog. Although its a big assumption as I know nothing about there development structure. But anyway, I would assume nearly everyone was on getting Uncharted 3 finished with The Last of Us is pre production. Then when Uncharted 3 was done they went into production on The Last of Us. Its just about always having the side project that comes into pre production or even production while the other project is finishing.
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  • Thegodzero
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    Thegodzero polycounter lvl 18
    Never fun to hear about layoffs, as some one who was laid-off a few months ago i feel the guys effected. You can only hope they land a new gig soon!
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  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    Couldn't they just have the people normally laid off bundled together and make a small iPad game or something to stay productive and un-fired?
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  • thomasp
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    thomasp hero character
    IchII3D wrote: »
    Most development studios these days have two teams, an example would be Naughty Dog. Although its a big assumption as I know nothing about there development structure.

    huh? does not compute. :D
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  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    I think in probably depends on how well the company was doing. With starbreeze being an independent developer, it may not have had the financial flexibility to run two dev teams alongside each other untill they start really recouping costs on Syndicate.

    /purespeculation
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  • spacemonkey
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    spacemonkey polycounter lvl 18
    Sad to hear; we have some positions for env artists if it helps someone out - that's great; http://www.splashdamage.com/jobs
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