Scribblenauts developers 5th Cell have laid off 45 employees but, contrary to initial reports, the company say they’re not closing down. 5th Cell had been working on a new mobile version of Scribblenauts, their series about solving free-form puzzles by drawing almost anything into existence, but its surprise cancellation left them overstaffed. The situation’s a bit unclear at this point, but they had also been working on a free-to-play PC action-RPG.
Toll the Bell of Lost Souls. Full Control, the folks most recently behind Space Hulk Ascension and Jagged Alliance Flashback, has stopped making games. The Danish studio ran into financial trouble and will soon only exist as a far smaller company selling and supporting their games. Current plans for DLC, updates, and ports are still in effect, but it’s unclear how much we’ll see from them or how they’ll exist after that.
At this rate, Trion Worlds might soon be forced to change its name to Trion Islands, or maybe Trion Small Yet Charming Spanish Getaway Vacation Villa. After the Rift team got hit by a major round of layoffs late last year, Defiance‘s band of trigger finger scratchers has taken a possibly even bigger hit. While the exact number is unconfirmed, many reports place the total at around 100, which is a worrisomely not-small portion of the entire company. For its part, Trion has confirmed the unfortunate turn of events, but it’s been illusive otherwise. The company’s statement is after the break, in addition to a few further details.
Too often, I wonder if the gaming industry shouldn’t just switch over to producing new versions of musical chairs and duck-duck-goose full-time. It does, after all, seem to be what we’re best at. Projects wrap, publishers “restructure,” and the unemployment line has to change the hinges on its revolving door. Again. This year, especially, has been viciously unkind on the layoff and closures front, and after a brief reprieve, it looks like the infernal old machine is whirring back to life. EA’s now confirmed a major round of layoffs of its own, though it won’t divulge exact numbers or details as to who’s been affected. Sources, however, are putting the grand total in the hundreds.
Activision has promised to stop making terrible games. Well, okay, that’s not quite true. But they’ve said to Kotaku that this year they’re planning to release “fewer games based on license properties”, which is publisher speak for, “Good lord, that James Bond game was terrible.” This coincides with the announcement that the company is laying off 30 employees, thought to affect CODBLOPS developers, Treyarch.
Gabe Newell has told Engadget that, despite the speculation (including our own) that a hardware project may have been cancelled, that Valve haven’t cancelled any ongoing projects at all, and that’s the the reason behind their having let some staff go. He added, “We’re not going to discuss why anyone in particular is or isn’t working here.”
“Will it ever actually come out, though?” is a question that’s often asked of many Kickstarter-funded games, but not like this. In the blink of an eye, Gas Powered Games’ Wildman went from fossil-fueled hopeful to dinosaur with a very large meteor breathing down its neck. After 40-some-odd layoffs, Chris Taylor was left reconsidering if it was even worthwhile to gamble the rest of his company on the project at all. So he asked the community. And now, after a few days of deliberation, it’s time for a verdict.
