Warner Bros. Montreal Staff Angry Over Shift to Casual Games

[Logan Westbrook]

Warner Bros. Montreal Staff Angry Over Shift to Casual Games

Warner Bros.' newest studio is to focus iPad games and casual MMOs, but staff are upset, as that's not what they signed up for.

Staff at Warner Bros.' Montreal studio is said to be angry over the shift in focus from triple A to casual games. Apparently, some staff members were so upset about the change in direction, they chose to leave the company.

The studio, which currently has 26 staff but has plans to increase staff levels to 300 by 2015, was originally conceived as another studio to make big titles. But according to studio director Martin Carrier, Warner decided that it needed a studio that specialized in social games instead, so repurposed the Montreal office.

Warner Bros. Montreal will make games for iPhones and iPads, Android smart phones, and Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The games the studio produces will have much smaller budgets than triple A games, and price tags no more than twenty dollars. As well as the downloadable titles, the Montreal studio will also work on a kid-friendly MMO, and is looking into the possibility of bringing characters from DC Comics to Facebook.

Carrier thought that casual games were considered to be less "prestigious" than their triple A cousins, which is likely what surprised/upset staff so much, but said that the market was growing very quickly. He thought that thanks to the "democratization" of videogames, a casual game had the potential to be more profitable than an expensive blockbuster title.

Source: La Press Affaires [http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/technologie/201011/09/01-4340675-fini-les-blockbusters-pour-warner.php] via Develop [http://www.develop-online.net/news/36329/Warner-dev-anger-at-AAA-to-social-switch]



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[RatRace123]

I think I side with the staff on this, they signed up, with the intention of working on actual Games.
And it sounds like they just sort of picked a branch and said "Yeah, you're working on phone apps now."
They could've at least given them a choice.

 

[ShadowKirby]

Carrier thought that casual games were considered to be less "prestigious" than their triple A cousins,

Probably a translation error but in the original article he actually says that he rejects that idea that casual games are less prestigious.

"Le directeur du studio montréalais de Warner Brothers écarte du revers de la main la théorie selon laquelle les jeux en ligne sont moins prestigieux que les jeux à grand déploiement."

 

[Lost In The Void]

Doesn't matter how much profit you'll make off of it, that doesn't make the employees stay. What the employees want is to have fun doing their job and by the sounds of it, making casual games wasn't going to be fun for them. Hopefully you learned this lesson now

 

[Polock]

Anyone get the feeling that this social/causal gaming craze has kind of lost its luster? Sure its still a profitable market, and probably always will be. But I kind of get this inkling that the return of "amazing" games is on its way. Whatever that means.

..

Or maybe I just find this article to be kind of funny.

 

[Antari]

And as usual Warner comes busting into the market well after the golden time has passed

 

[Albino Boo]

Let me get this straight, in the middle of worst rescission for 80 years people are complaining that they have slightly less prestigious job....

 

[Zer_]

Let me get this straight, in the middle of worst rescission for 80 years people are complaining that they have slightly less prestigious job....

Canada wasn't hit as hard as the Americans. For the most part, the job market is back to more regular levels up here. That and THQ is opening up a massive office in Montreal, so there's a demand for developers.

 

[Ldude893]

They didn't sign up for that, and they have the upmost right to quit.

 

[Tom Phoenix]

On one hand, I can't really sympathise with these staff members. There is a reason it's called a job. You don't (always) get to do whatever you want; you do what needs to be done. Considering how game studios have been closing left and right, they should be grateful they get to develop any kind of games for a living.

Having said that,I get the feeling like Carrier made this decision purely out of a desire to jump onto the social gaming bandwagon rather than seek a different outlet to produce quality titles. Considering that the social gaming market is already oversaturated with low quality social gaming software, jumping into it, expecting easy money for little work, is suicide. The gold rush is eventually going to implode (if it hasn't already), which would have severe consenquences for the studio.

Personally, I think developing mid-tier titles would have been a wiser choice.

 

[LordSphinx]

Talent isn't required to make casual games. That's a sad truth. These devs have the right to feel that their talent is going to be wasted on facebook clones or MMOs oriented toward a public so yound they didn't develop critical judgement yet. Some of those guys have quitted Ubisoft hoping to make bigger and better games in a healthier working environment. And yes, Ubisoft make big games too, but they also have a large fraction of their staff working on crappy DS titles oriented toward stupid teenage girls or Wii shovelware. Spending long hours on uninspiring titles can be very taxing on the moral in the long run.