And so it begins...

old.Whoodoo

old.Whoodoo

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From previous experience of one company taking over another, only to make a load redundant later, I did thin this might happen..

Owing to sagging profits and and a less-than-firm grip on their once invulnerable spot at top of the third party heap, Electronic Arts is looking to make some changes in their corporate structure, starting with Mythic and their Redwood Shores studio. An internal email from a trustworthy source who wishes to remain anonymous reveals that John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, has tasked every studio and company within the monolithic publisher with getting their rising costs in line with revenue, which in plain English means layoffs.
The email from Mythic VP Rob Denton was sent to all employees of Mythic and details some of the plans to reduce costs by cutting jobs as well as some actions already taken. Headcount will be managed through "attrition, performance management, stricter hiring guidelines and layoffs". Over the next two months, the Ultima Online team will be moving from EA Redwood Shores to Mythic's Fairfax, VA studio to streamline operations. Meanwhile, a number of employees at both studios have already been let go as of earlier today including many UO staffers, with more to follow as EA tightens its belt in the coming months.


While this is the first we've heard directly of the layoffs, increasing efficiency and lowering costs in the face of falling profit margins and flat revenue can't be achieved by just two of over 20 studios. While we were asked not to print the email in its entirety, one direct quote from the email we can show you is the following:
Given this, John Riccitiello, our CEO, has tasked the company to get its costs in line with revenues ... Every studio, group and division of the company has been tasked to review its overall headcount and adjust its organization to meet the needs of the business moving forward.​
Such an order coming from the top likely means some far-reaching consequences within the company. Destructoid will keep you posted on any further updates.
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Find the link here, cant say I am surprised, and not wanting to sound too doomsayerlike, who else wonders if DAoC is about to get an employee nerfbat?
 
Gear

Gear

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I don't really think anyone should be surprised with moves like that by EA. Their sole purpose is just to make money (which is fine but then again), they have no interest in creativity or in making anything original, a work that they can be proud off.

EA is like the opposite of Midas. Everything they touch turns to shit.
 
eble@work

eble@work

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writings on the wall for DAOC, even more so with WAR out next year.

I can see someone at EA reaching for the off switch now :)

Eble
 
K

Killder

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At least GOA are not owned by EA so we can expect Dyvet to be still supported in the excellent way it is at the moment :p
 
Cromcruaich

Cromcruaich

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Damn, left it to late to ebay my characters, should of got out a year ago, might of got 20 quid for em.
 
svartalf

svartalf

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Posted this comment on VN too...
I suppose this news counts as the budgetary constraint mentioned here:

"Date Posted: 10/23
The original zonal concession concept appeared fine, why is flagging necessary? My only assumption is that the schedule/budget means that they can't get more zones (and consequently the respective resource demanding quests) completed in time."
VN Boards - WARHerald Update: Warhammer Beta Update - Part 1

Is quoting oneself bad?
 
Tesla Monkor

Tesla Monkor

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I suspect that EA is taking control in an attempt to save WAR. UO has been sacrificed to move it's devs to WAR and get that shipped.

This is not a good sign.
 
svartalf

svartalf

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Tesla Monkor said:
I suspect that EA is taking control in an attempt to save WAR. UO has been sacrificed to move it's devs to WAR and get that shipped.

This is not a good sign.
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Actually, it looks like they were just laid off with no move to WAR at all!

Stratics Message Forums: Goodbye UO
Tensor

Reged: 08/25/06
Posts: 2 Goodbye UO
#7468441 - 10/24/07 08:00 PM

There is nothing to lose for me to post this and I admit I feel bitter, so why not let you know the truth?

Alot of the UO team was laid off today including me and all of QA.

We were escorted out of the building and not even allowed to email our goodbye email to everyone else. They even had managers watching us the whole time like we had done something wrong.

Most of the engineers are already working on Warhammer.

Most of the rest of the UO team is not going to Virginia. Only one person is moving fore sure and maybe one or two more are considering it too. That’s it. Almost all of the famous devs are not going.

Almost everyone on the list posted earlier by someone is not going to Virginia for sure.

Early December is when everyone who does not move to Virginia is laid off too.

I hope that something I did for UO is something that you found fun. We really did try to do our best.

Maybe I will see you all in another not EA game soon!
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GReaper

GReaper

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This is exactly why people have a strong dislike for EA. They'll acquire a company, eventually they end up gutting the child division in stages until there's nothing left of it.

Mythic is probably their golden child at the moment, so they're just being told to tighten up. A couple of years after WAR is released and the population starts declining then what will we see? Unless the Mythic studio has another MMO planned afterwards then it'll probably end up like Origin Systems.

I don't think anyone particularly likes EA for unique and interesting games, the brand name has been earning a bad reputation for a long time.
 
eble@work

eble@work

Fledgling Freddie
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Thats real bad news for UO and there devs being dumped.

I was actually joking about DAOC but I may be right :(

Eble
 
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