Obsidian Layoffs

praetus

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/14/report-obsidian-hit-with-layoffs-south-park-team-affected-fut/

Bad news and well wishes to any that are effected.

"Approximately 20-30 people from all disciplines, including one person who started yesterday, as well as one who started last week."

Damn. That is hard news to hear.

ScudzAlmighty

Damnit, can we not even go a week without one of these threads?

we had two people at Rabbithole there for 2 1/2 days before we all got axed, but yeah that's really shitty.

slipsius

why the F would they hire people just to lay them off the next day?

biofrost

Well I don't think they intended to lay people off. I'm guessing the order to do so came from higher up.

Joshua Stubbles

Projects are getting too large these days, with teams that are too big. You didn't see this happening often when teams were small, making awesome simple games that were really fun. Employee retention be damned, I suppose.

Seems like if you're not an engineer or lead, you're always on the block.

Sad news though, hope everyone gets a gig soon.

BlvdNights

Apparently Jim Rivers also was let go.

ScudzAlmighty

biofrost wrote: »

Well I don't think they intended to lay people off. I'm guessing the order to do so came from higher up.

I think in most cases it's all pretty sudden. Everything may be going totally fine and then one day the publisher just calls up and says:
"hey y'know that prototype you showed us yesterday that looked amazing and we were all really enthusiastic about? Well it turns out the platform we've insisted you develop it for is starting to loose popularity so instead of pressing the compile for this other still popular system button in the editor we've decided to just axe the whole thing altogether because it's not our fault we don't understand the market."

that's my understanding of it anyway.

GarageBay9

TheBatman4141 said

• 
• 

If you're laying off people who started as recently as yesterday, it would seem that management should be included in the layoffs.

That cuts deep... Deep, like an obsidian knife.

Mark Dygert

Sad news for sure... Good luck guys. Things are turning around but entertainment is always the last sector to recover after a downturn and things are moving very very slowly.

slipsius wrote: »

why the F would they hire people just to lay them off the next day?

It looks like they where gearing up to start a new game that was axed =/

That happened to me the first industry job I had. I was hired to work on an expansion pack, I put in my two weeks notice at the old place and in that time they canned all but a handful of employees including the position I was hired for. Luckily I was hired into another department.

Welcome to the industry, here's your barf bag, enjoy... yea thanks...

Dylan Brady

BlvdNights wrote: »

Apparently Jim Rivers also was let go.

...WHAT?
that guys one of the best hiring managers in the industry.
Well, at least you know hes already talking to other companies, but... damn.

SouthpawSid

Bonebrew22 wrote: »

...WHAT?
that guys one of the best hiring managers in the industry.
Well, at least you know hes already talking to other companies, but... damn.

I potentially couldn't have gotten to where I am today without that amazing man. Looking forward to see who the lucky company is that gets him. Hope things pick up soon to all my friends back in Irvine.

Shiniku

That's awful news! Hope all those affected land on their feet. It's one of my dreams to work at Obsidian someday, definitely sucks to hear about stuff like this happening.

Thegodzero

I hate reading these titles...

Isaiah Sherman

Worked for 1 day and then let go? I smell a lawsuit.

If I moved across country to work for a studio and was axed on day 1 or 2, I would contact an attorney. That's just blatantly bad business and puts a huge red flag over your studio to stay the hell away.

We are hiring for these positions right now:
-Environment Modeler
-Lead Mission Designer
-Rendering Programmer / Graphics Engineer
-Senior Game Designer
-Senior Mission/Level Designer

http://www.suckerpunch.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=91


If anyone knows those that got let go and they're in fields relevant to those I listed, email or PM me!

Kaiser D

BlvdNights wrote: »

Apparently Jim Rivers also was let go.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?! Just days after I talked to him at his GDC booth. Hell I even have his business card right here in my desk :poly134:
I know he'll land on his feet because he's a great guy but still that is incredibly fucked up.

Shanthosa

BlvdNights wrote: »

Apparently Jim Rivers also was let go.

Ugh, that is awful. I remember I met him for the first time at SIGGRAPH a few years ago. What a great guy. I really hope he lands someplace awesome.

Jungsik

I would not wanna be that guy that landed a job for 2 1/2 day and then get axed..damn...T_T

JacqueChoi

In Canada, people usually axed like that are compensated 6 months salary.

ANyways, lemme know if anyone is interested in moving to french canada. Always a need for senior people at a LOT of studios.

Joshua Stubbles

We're still hiring at Timegate as well, across multiple projects:

Technical Animator
User Interface Artist
Animator
Technical Artist
Game Designer

As well as programming positions.

http://timegatestudios.catsone.com/careers/

ae.

Always looking for top tier talent here at Digital Extremes take a look at our job page we have a ton of open positions:

http://www.digitalextremes.com/careers/postings

or shoot me a PM with your portfolio and i can probably get the ball rolling faster :P

Cheers,

Arman

Ott

We've got jobs too! Click on the "Work For Us" tab and the Job List for all the stuffs available at High Moon.