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Obsidian’s 10th Extra Life Anniversary

RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

Blarghagh

By Blarghagh
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Tale

Tale

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Posted

It would have been public pretty soon anyway: http://venturebeat.com/2016/12/08/obsidian-lays-off-undisclosed-number-of-its-amored-warfare-staff/

 

And I don't really think it makes sense to avoid discussing it to not hurt a company's PR. I imagine the people affected were grateful they got some help looking for some work right now, especially because, while it will happen early next year, it's tough news to hear during the holidays.

are working with them to find homes with other developers.

Developers are pets confirmed. Or orphans.
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"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
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Labadal

Labadal

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Well then...

 

Obsidian lays off some Armored Warfare devs as project moves to Moscow
 
Fallout: New Vegas and Tyranny developer Obsidian Entertainment has laid off an undisclosed number of developers working on the free-to-play game, Armored Warfare.
 
The cuts, scheduled to take effect early next year, are the result of a decision made by Armored Warfare publisher My.com to partially move development of the project to the company’s headquarters in Moscow.
 
Despite the shift, Obsidian will continue to work on Armored Warfare, which entered open beta last year, in partnership with IllFonic and My.com.
 
A representative from Obsidian confirmed the layoffs to Gamasutra and offered the following statement from Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart:
 
"This week we let some of our developers on Armored Warfare know that they are being laid off early next year. The publisher of Armored Warfare decided to move a portion of the development of the product to their headquarters in Moscow. We remain extremely proud of Armored Warfare and all the work we have and will continue to put into it. None of the other products at Obsidian were affected by this. We wish our people the best, and are working with them to find homes with other developers."
 
If you or someone you know was affected by these layoffs, you can email Gamasutra to tell your story confidentially.

 

 

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Leferd

Leferd

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Well, this is garbage news right before the holidays. Good luck and best wishes to those affected.

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"Things are funny...are comedic, because they mix the real with the absurd." - Buzz Aldrin.

"P-O-T-A-T-O-E" - Dan Quayle

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Labadal

Labadal

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Anthony Davis:

 

Thanks, I appreciate it, and I'm actually fine. Please keep the QA, map developers, and vehicle team developers who got their notice in your thoughts and prayers.

That synopsis is actually accurate - we always knew that we would ramp down AW to a support role while the MRG team in Moscow ramped up to live development - with the intention of shifting people over to our other projects - which we have done. For those we couldn't make room for, there was advance notice and severance. There was also a ramping down some of our QA as more and more QA responsibilities were taken on by Bytex.

Regarding my feelings for AW, I love the game. I think Global Operations and Balance 2.0 are going to change the game for the better in enormous ways. This project has been an unexpected and wild ride, as well as a great opportunity for me to remember and relive some glorious memories as a tanker. WHEN or IF the final day comes on this project, I will miss it, truly.

LdzMLgC.jpg

This kind of thing always sucks, even when you know it's coming, and even when the company is in a strong place, which we are. We still have ~200 employees after the layoffs, and multiple signed projects - it's just our role in AW is now a support role.

No surprises, no drama. Sure there is sadness, these people are really talented and awesome to work with.

For the response about why I didn't say anything sooner - One, I don't speak for Obsidian and Two, the internet is a horrible buzzfeed-clickbaity hell hole. There are organizations who are hungry for any sort of story that they can use to stoke page views and I don't want to be a part of that.

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Hurlshort

Hurlshort

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That's a great picture to go out on.  My brother-in-law got hired by Ducati when the Matrix movies were coming out and they were featured a lot.  They flew him to Italy, gave him a set of leathers, and then 9 months later when the movie buzz wore down, he was laid off.  I'd say that was still a pretty good deal.

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Volourn

Volourn

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"Someone from Obsidian commented this on RPGcodex saying the layoffs aren't drastic. He couldn't comment any more than that. Avellone being a massive d*** again."

 

Don't be butthurt because he delivered sad news about your fave developer. Good on Avellone for posting the truth.

 

 Good luck for the ones out of a job. I'm sure you'll find something.:)

DWARVES IN PROJECT ETERNITY = VOLOURN HAS PLEDGED $250.

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Fenixp

Fenixp

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So he's at Arkane then. Working on a watered down version of the original Prey 2. Sad!

You've played Prey 2017 and Prey 2 to make the comparison? That's some impressive time travel and dimensional shifting. Edited by Fenixp
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licketysplit

licketysplit

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So he's at Arkane then. Working on a watered down version of the original Prey 2. Sad!

You've played Prey 2017 and Prey 2 to make the comparison? That's some impressive time travel and dimensional shifting.

 

Well let's be honest, it looks ****e compared to the original bounty hunter angle. 

 

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Fenixp

Fenixp

Posted
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Well fact of the matter is that Prey 2 got cancelled, scrapped and handed to Arkane for new development. While IIRC the lead writer claimed reasons for cancelling it were purely political and completely stupid, but that's rather one-sided view and chances are it was just ... Well, crap. They did nice trailers. On the other hand, to my knowledge, Arkane is yet to produce a bad game. True enough, Prey 2 might be the first one in the trend, considering I'm pretty sure studio was mainly working on Dishonored 2 - then again, they might just continue it too.

Edited by Fenixp
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Malcador

Malcador

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Since when does Obsidian have 200 employees? I thought they had 100.

Give it 6 months..

Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

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Tale

Tale

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Well fact of the matter is that Prey 2 got cancelled, scrapped and handed to Arkane for new development.

There was a rumor of Obsidian involvement after Human Head. I always wonder if that's how Avellone ended up involved.
"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
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Zoraptor

Zoraptor

Posted
Posted

 

 

What is Avellone doing now? 

He's at Bethesda now, he worked on the new Prey.

 

 

So he's at Arkane then. Working on a watered down version of the original Prey 2. Sad!

 

 

Watered down version of System Shock. It's a retooling of the system shock project they were doing in 2007-8 for EA that got canned by John Riccitiello when he took over and has little to do with HH's Prey or even the original Prey.

 

And it is of course ironic that Chris Avellone- the guy who accused Bethesda of stiffing Obsidian on FNV's metacritic bonus- is now working for them, even if it's temporary.

 

Well fact of the matter is that Prey 2 got cancelled, scrapped and handed to Arkane for new development. While IIRC the lead writer claimed reasons for cancelling it were purely political and completely stupid, but that's rather one-sided view and chances are it was just ... Well, crap. They did nice trailers. On the other hand, to my knowledge, Arkane is yet to produce a bad game. True enough, Prey 2 might be the first one in the trend, considering I'm pretty sure studio was mainly working on Dishonored 2 - then again, they might just continue it too.

 

There was corroboration of the Human Head version of events, ironically from what happened to Arkane. The reasons for cancelling weren't political and stupid; they'd have cost Beth/ Zenimax basically the same amount of cash for development and got them an owned developer from that money as well, if it had worked. That's of questionable morality, shall we say, but if you leave that aside it's an excellent idea from a financial perspective.

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Katphood

Katphood

Posted
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No glorification of violence, just a huge appreciation for blood & gore...in video games:

 

 

 

 

Hope this turns out to be as awesome as it looks.   :wub:

 

 

Well fact of the matter is that Prey 2 got cancelled, scrapped and handed to Arkane for new development. While IIRC the lead writer claimed reasons for cancelling it were purely political and completely stupid, but that's rather one-sided view and chances are it was just ... Well, crap. 

 
Time travel?! 
Edited by Katphood
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There used to be a signature here, a really cool one...and now it's gone.  

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Labadal

Labadal

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"Chris Avellone- the guy who accused Bethesda of stiffing Obsidian on FNV's metacritic bonus"

 

He did?

That was Josh sawyer if i remember correctly.

 

Since when does Obsidian have 200 employees? I thought they had 100.

They've had over 200 employees for some time now.

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