Mark Jacobs' Departure Shocks Mythic Employees

[John Funk]

Mark Jacobs' Departure Shocks Mythic Employees

The announcement that Mythic Entertainment founder and CEO Mark Jacobs would be leaving the company as it joined Bioware under the EA RPG umbrella [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92642-BioWare-and-Mythic-Merge-Mark-Jacobs-Leaves] came as an unexpected surprise to many - including many of the people who work at Mythic.

Massively's Tracey John spoke with a former Mythic staffer [http://www.massively.com/2009/06/24/mythic-employees-shocked-at-mark-jacobs-departure/] about Jacobs' departure from the company he helped found. The ex-employee - who has been keeping abreast of developments within the studio - said that the news, which was announced to Mythic employees this morning, came as quite the surprise:

[blockquote]"People are shocked and in disbelief about Mark leaving," said the former staffer. "But they're also excited to be working with BioWare. I can't even fathom Mark leaving a company he loved so much, it was his life. Personally, I can't see that this is voluntary in any shape or form."[/blockquote]

Massively's source also indicated that other than Jacobs, no one would be losing their jobs, and that the 300-some-odd staff members would be addressed by BioWare's Dr. Ray Muzyka later today.

While speculation is heavy that Jacobs' departure wasn't voluntary, and that he may have been asked to leave by an EA unhappy with Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the source said that despite lower-than-expected numbers, WAR is still doing passably well:

[blockquote]"The numbers aren't that bad, and last I heard the numbers were back on the rise ... If you get half a million subscriptions out of it, you're making your money back. I know the game was making money."[/blockquote]

(Massively [http://www.massively.com/2009/06/24/mythic-employees-shocked-at-mark-jacobs-departure/])

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[Skizle]

so this might mean that WAR might be changing for better or for worse. i liked the stuff they recently did, but it wasnt enough to keep my attention span occupied. Still i hope this leads to more new content at a somewhat faster speed

 

[HobbesMkii]

Yah, I find it hard to believe that this guy, who apparently is the only guy leaving in the whole deal and has been talking up WAR like it was the best thing since sliced bread would just go: "well, if BioWare's involved, I'm ditching." Maybe he was critical of EA's management.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Whats going on in the industry today?

Did they plan this?

 

[rokudan]

Well clearly whoever was in charge of the merger played Destruction because Jacobs was very much an order player considering how out of balance and game breaking most of the order characters were and still are.