Square Enix Los Angeles Hit With Layoffs

JonB

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Sep 16, 2012
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Square Enix Los Angeles Hit With Layoffs



Square Enix America CEO Mike Fischer may be let go in May.

Square Enix has laid off something like 30-45 staff, a source told Joystiq. Around half of the marketing department, something like 10 people, were laid off. In late June, timed just after E3, about half of the public relations department and the head of Marketing will be let go, something like 4 or 5 people. One of the sources noted that "close to around 20" were laid off in accounting, IT, and events, as well as 5 to 10 who left community and support in the last week. Mike Fischer, Square Enix America's CEO, will supposedly be let go in May. All told, that comes out at 40 to 50 people.

Joystiq's sources asked to remain anonymous, for fear that speaking with the press would affect their severance package. The Los Angeles employees were informed that they weren't being singled out, and that European and Japanese employees would be let go as part of ongoing corporate restructuring. These layoffs come in the wake of the Tomb Raider launch by Square Enix, which was the most successful in the franchise's history. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/123045-Tomb-Raider-Launch-Best-in-Franchises-History]

Source: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2013/04/03/square-enix-los-angeles-layoff-details-ceo-rumored-to-be-out-by/]

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ron1n

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Jan 28, 2013
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I'm assuming the 'something like' use is actually a direct quote? :/
 

AntiChri5

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I love the way that hard work, guality games and financial success are rewarded in life.
 

GAunderrated

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AntiChri5 said:
I love the way that hard work, guality games and financial success are rewarded in life.
Yes it is sad to see that people get punished for SE executives decisions that no doubt caused lack of profits for SE.

Where is agito XIII and FFvXIII? Why did they try and horrible cash crab with FF dimensions, FF all the bravest, and FF teatrythem on mobile devices? Why did you (SE) fuck up FFXIV when you actually created a decent MMO FFXI before? Why in god's name do we have a trilogy off the WORST FF universe ever created and worst protagonist? Where is kingdom hearts 3? What is SE doing besides cash grabs, trolling fans, and announcing crap?

All of these are hypothetical questions but feel free to answer for shit and giggles. lol.
 

zz_

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GAunderrated said:
AntiChri5 said:
I love the way that hard work, guality games and financial success are rewarded in life.
Yes it is sad to see that people get punished for SE executives decisions that no doubt caused lack of profits for SE.

Where is agito XIII and FFvXIII? Why did they try and horrible cash crab with FF dimensions, FF all the bravest, and FF teatrythem on mobile devices? Why did you (SE) fuck up FFXIV when you actually created a decent MMO FFXI before? Why in god's name do we have a trilogy off the WORST FF universe ever created and worst protagonist? Where is kingdom hearts 3? What is SE doing besides cash grabs, trolling fans, and announcing crap?

All of these are hypothetical questions but feel free to answer for shit and giggles. lol.
Agito 13 has been out for about a year and a half.
 

GAunderrated

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zz_ said:
GAunderrated said:
AntiChri5 said:
I love the way that hard work, guality games and financial success are rewarded in life.
Yes it is sad to see that people get punished for SE executives decisions that no doubt caused lack of profits for SE.

Where is agito XIII and FFvXIII? Why did they try and horrible cash crab with FF dimensions, FF all the bravest, and FF teatrythem on mobile devices? Why did you (SE) fuck up FFXIV when you actually created a decent MMO FFXI before? Why in god's name do we have a trilogy off the WORST FF universe ever created and worst protagonist? Where is kingdom hearts 3? What is SE doing besides cash grabs, trolling fans, and announcing crap?

All of these are hypothetical questions but feel free to answer for shit and giggles. lol.
Agito 13 has been out for about a year and a half.
Maybe in Japan but the fact they decided not to port it over (again) is a loss of sales on their part.
 

insanelich

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Sep 3, 2008
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erttheking said:
Geez, they're not doing so well are they?
They are not.

And the reason is simple: The Final Fantasy brand is cancerous.

Everything else Square Enix does could do. But they have mismanaged Final Fantasy and Square Enix Japan in general so badly they expect the Eidos games to sell better than Diablo 3 to make up for them just setting money on fire with Final Fantasy and related products.

They should kill off Final Fantasy and every affiliated product except Kingdom Hearts until they got something fresh to add to the formula - which requires the developers in question to work on something new and challenging. Like a new IP, where they have free hands.

Also just fire their entire mobile division because they produce nothing but shovelware.
 

Dr.Awkward

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Square: Tumbling in quality ever since Woolsey left. Not really kidding here - Look at several of their NA releases after FFVII(where you can tell in the text how much an impact was made when Woolsey left), and then look at some of the games back when Woolsey was part of the localization team. Which ones are remembered better?
 

Malisteen

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Square is suffering because of excessive money thrown into the bottomless final fantasy moneypit. Better to reward the actually successful games, and let final fantasy go the way of Capcom's Megaman titles - retro games capturing what made the titles popular in the first place, and costing next to nothing to develop.
 

MDSnowman

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insanelich said:
erttheking said:
Geez, they're not doing so well are they?
They are not.

And the reason is simple: The Final Fantasy brand is cancerous.

Everything else Square Enix does could do. But they have mismanaged Final Fantasy and Square Enix Japan in general so badly they expect the Eidos games to sell better than Diablo 3 to make up for them just setting money on fire with Final Fantasy and related products.

They should kill off Final Fantasy and every affiliated product except Kingdom Hearts until they got something fresh to add to the formula - which requires the developers in question to work on something new and challenging. Like a new IP, where they have free hands.

Also just fire their entire mobile division because they produce nothing but shovelware.
The hilarious part is that they gave the Final Fantasy brand this cancer as sure as they let it play in a drum of toxic waste. I've come to the conclusion that the increasing focus on mindless spectacles, coupled with a moronic desire to marry turn based and real time combat that gets increasingly frustrating with each iteration has driven all but the biggest fan boys away from the series.

Then of course they decide to focus all of their efforts in creating a trilogy of games set in the single worst setting they have ever created in more than twenty years of occasionally absurd RPG worlds. They then hand cuff these stories to some of the worst characters the series has ever seen as well.

I don't think the answer is to totally nuke the Final Fantasy brand from orbit. They do need to burn it to the ground, wait for nature to take back the ground and then rebuild. They also need to STOP ANNOUNCING CRAP. Stop putting out, announcing, or even working on Final Fantasy games for a while. Let the world move on. Let other games make your money for a while. While this is going on quietly put together a team to redesign Final Fantasy games from the ground up, find out what people like about their RPGs (Good characters, inventive settings, just enough familiar hallmarks in the setting to make it feel like a Final Fantasy game, and jettison the rest (constantly messing with the combat system, reliance on overly long and flashy cut scenes filled with action the players would rather be doing themselves).

I think what would be really cool is a retelling of the original Final Fantasy's story. The warriors of light (each a well drawn out character who, in combat represent one of the basic classes from the original game) drawn together by fate in order to save their world from a slowly encroaching evil. Of course everything in the game would become much more fleshed out, but it'd remind people what they like about the series, both old and new.
 
Nov 28, 2007
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Let's see...Final Fantasy XIV loses money, Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs sell 3.5 million copies and 1.7 million copies respectively, the first of which sets a franchise record, and the second of which is a brand-new IP. I know! Let's punish the studio actually making money!
 

CriticalMiss

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Is this the announcement they teased at the PS4 reveal? And we all thought it would be another Final Fantasy.
 

Chimpzy_v1legacy

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Jun 21, 2009
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I wonder if there is any relation to this (yes, I know Sankaku Complex is not the most reliable source):

Square Enix - We're going to scrap all the rubbish [http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2013/04/03/square-enix-were-going-to-scrap-all-the-rubbish/]

OT: Good thing they don't seem intent on not laying off devs. Hurting one of the branches of your company that still brings in good money is generally a bad idea. Then again, investors aren't interested in good money, only ludicrously great money.
 

james.sponge

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Please just freeze that Final Fantasy cancer for a couple of years. You better not close down Eidos Montreal or hold the development of Sleeping Dogs 2!
 

Darks63

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Corporate Restructuring I hate that term it's nothing more than a window dressing on the real term Downsizing which is laying off people en mass.

I agree with most folks in here the need to stop feeding ghr FF beast and focus on some of thier other ips and if they do anything with FF at all just do remakes of the more popular games in the series.