fnordcircle
Liturgist
Found this on RPGDot who are actually quoting this Shacknews article:
Then this bit from Gamespot:
Finally, here's some stuff from an email exchange RPGDot had with a laid off developer.
Well, all I've got to say is I hope that company goes down the tubes after the abortion that was DX:IW.
NOW WILL EVERY GAMING COMPANY OUT THERE START TO GET THE CLUE THAT DUMBING DOWN YOUR GAMES != HUGE SALEZ?!
Whoever said it here said it best, Spector is a tool.
Multiple sources tell us that all is not well at Deus Ex & Thief 3 developer ION Storm. Apparently some 20 - 25 people have been laid off at the Eidos owned Austin based developer. That's not all though as Warren Spector is said to be leaving the company as well. If we receive any more details we'll be sure to post them. Update: Other sites have confirmed with Eidos that people have been let go, though Eidos denies that Spector is going anywhere. Update 2: More details are coming in. It looks like people leaving/being laid off is just the start of it, as the company is also changing names..and going PS2 development only.
Then this bit from Gamespot:
However, an Eidos executive contacted by GameSpot denied that Spector had exited the organization. "Warren is still there," he said, but would not elaborate. As to the layoffs, the Eidos exec refused to confirm or deny they had occurred. "With the completion of projects, there is always a review of teams," he said, refusing to comment further.
Finally, here's some stuff from an email exchange RPGDot had with a laid off developer.
I was one of the many laid off. I'd say about 25 or so were there today getting laid off, and there were probably four or five more people who weren't there (I only know of ONE for sure, though) who were also laid off. This was the first real layoff I've been involved in, so I don't know how it normally goes. However, they brought in HR from San Francisco to make sure things went by the book, and our access to our company's network was cut off immediately. This was the strangest batch of firings I've ever seen hit a company. There were a lot of REALLY talented people cut today: artists, designers, and programmers. I didn't notice any management being cut. A big shame all in all. Some of the instrumental people who fixed a lot of the problems that would have made Thief not ship on time (or with all of the problems that plagued DX2) and some of the people who were on Thief from the beginning were all cut. It was really deep cuts, and wasn't just a bunch of losers. Oh well, life must go on!
The current state of Ion is strange. I still have friends there, and they're not thrilled about what's happened and what is still happening. I guess the thing that I'd really say is: how many game companies have you seen that have had massive layoffs that suddenly did well afterwards? I have my doubts about the future of Ion Storm. I wish them success, for the sake of my friends and the game industry in Austin. I just don't have much hope. They've cut the studio to a one-team-one-project studio. Also, Warren Spector is no longer with Ion, as I understand it.
Well, all I've got to say is I hope that company goes down the tubes after the abortion that was DX:IW.
NOW WILL EVERY GAMING COMPANY OUT THERE START TO GET THE CLUE THAT DUMBING DOWN YOUR GAMES != HUGE SALEZ?!
Whoever said it here said it best, Spector is a tool.