Red Storm Entertainment Hit By Layoffs

[Andy Chalk]

Red Storm Entertainment Hit By Layoffs

38 people have been laid off from Red Storm Entertainment [http://www.redstorm.com/], the studio best known for creating the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon franchises.

The surprise news out of the North Carolina-based studio is the result of "a realignment of production priorities," according to a statement from Ubisoft [http://www.ubi.com], which acquired Red Storm in 2000. "The decision to realign the team allows Red Storm to focus on its core strength: developing innovative multiplayer experiences."

Despite the layoffs, the company said Red Storm itself isn't going anywhere. "Red Storm remains an integral part of Ubisoft's worldwide production team," the statement continued. "Those employees [affected by the layoffs] have the opportunity to consider positions in other Ubisoft studios."

Red Storm Entertainment was founded in 1996 and quickly established itself in the industry with the 1998 release of the groundbreaking tactical FPS Rainbow Six. In 2001 it launched its most successful franchise, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon. Red Storm's most recent titles include America's Army: True Soldiers [http://www.amazon.com/Clancys-Ghost-Advanced-Warfighter-xbox-360/dp/B000LXIO6I/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1282858980&sr=8-3].

Red Storm is currently at work on the mulitplayer component of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier [http://www.amazon.com/Clancys-Ghost-Future-Soldier-Xbox-360/dp/B0037LTTRO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1282858980&sr=8-1], which will not be affected by the cuts. The Escapist Editor-in-Chief Russ Pitts revealed that as recently as his latest visit to Red Storm, in November of 2009, the studio also "had an entire team working on a secret, internally developed new IP that they were very excited about and were expecting to release in 2010 or 2011." How that project will be affected by the layoffs is currently unknown.


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[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Oh that sucks... I hope it didn't affect this secret project they're working on.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Okay, this is bad news.

I like those titles in the Clancy series!

 

[Korten12]

I hope it doesnt get effected, I plan to get Future Soldier and Vegas 2 is great!

 

[Simple Bluff]

How can they just dispose 38 people and say it won't affect the production of upcoming games? That's a lot of manpower.

 

[Jared]

Thats a real shame...I do enjoy there gaemes >< hope they can find new jobs!

 

[oranger]

Oh look another mega corp purchases a studio and then guts it like a fish. Surprise?

 

[-Samurai-]

At least they can continue to work with other parts of Ubisoft studios, instead of being temporarily unemployed.

I see where they're coming from, though. Having too many projects going on at once can result in lower quality games. They need to focus on just a few things.

 

[Therumancer]

I see this as an example of exactly why the attitude expressed by "Extra Credit" about how big companies and smaller "indie" creative companies can work together. Ubisoft wants to save a few bucks, down comes the axe, and guess who it falls on? The sub companies. No creativity here (despite the word) they want them to work on the stuff they know they can produce and sell rather than experimenting with many new things.

The economy isn't great, but still looking at a lot of the layoffs, most of them seem more about the optimization of profits than any real need to cut jobs to stay afloat.

The only "good" thing I see here is that at least Ubisoft didn't do it right before Christmas.

 

[Baldr]

I believe Red Storm is the only Ubisoft studio within the United States. To move to another stduio would have to go far from Morrisville.

 

[The Lost Big Boss]

So they cut people who made the single player and are keeping the multiplayer people.
In other words expect a shit-tastic single player for future games, and possibly the current Ghost Recon.

 

[duchaked]

whoa...that's quite a few people actually... :/

 

[Weaver]

I hope all 38 were fat trimming from bloated management and/or unproductive employees.

 

[Baldr]

So they cut people who made the single player and are keeping the multiplayer people.
In other words expect a shit-tastic single player for future games, and possibly the current Ghost Recon.

No you read it wrong, another studio did the single player, their(Red Storm) current responsibility was the multiplayer aspect of the game. They also have another game in development that is still under an NDA so no one outside the studio can talk about it.

 

[Darth_Dude]

I hope all 38 were fat trimming from bloated management and/or unproductive employees.

We can hope, but that's probably not the case

 

[UnravThreads]

Whilst I'm not a fan of their games (I stay a mile away from anything with "LOL TOM CLANCY" written on it), it's still a shame to see people lose their jobs. Hope they get new ones as soon as possible.

 

[Russ Pitts]

This one hit us pretty close to home, in more than one sense. Red Storm is a short car ride down the highway from our offices, and I would consider a lot of the people there friends. I hope everyone makes it out OK, especially the folks who are left cleaning up the mess.