UPDATE: SOE Closing Studios, Cutting 205 Staff

[Lawyer105]

As sad as it is for companies to be laying off staff, perhaps for gaming in the long run it's a good thing. Perhaps companies are finally starting to realise that cloning WoW (with a different skin on perhaps) is ultimately unprofitable.

See their decision above : The premise of The Agency might have been really interesting.. but everything I read about it's core design just screamed WoW-clone, focused on repetitive grinding etc.

And yet, they decided to keep Planetside. Why? It never did that well.... perhaps they realised that true growth is going to come from tempting all those people that are sick of WoW, rather than trying to steal Blizzards customers and hoping for the best.

So yeah. It sucks, but in the long run in might be good for gamers. Might. This IS Sony Online Entertainment we're talking about.

 

[archabaddon]

... these kinds of layoffs provides further proof that MMOs are not the cash cows they once were.

Of course they aren't; the market's saturated. Heck, even Hello Kitty has an MMO (which is ironic from a South Park perspective).

 

[Mister Benoit]

These are the kind of news articles that make me paranoid for losing my job if our product doesn't do well once released ugh >.<

 

[BlindChance]

Kind of sad that this means the one original IP of the bunch (The Agency) mentioned up there is canned, but two follow-ups are now the focus. Yes, it makes financial sense, but fewer IPs out there makes me a sad man.

 

[Quesa]

SOE's been something of a mismanaged cluster since.. forever. EQ was lightning in a bottle that they kept trying to recreate by throwing money around. It certainly needs to get smaller, but it needs a shakeup at the top more.

 

[Harbinger_]

While this is terrible this didn't have to happen if SOE decided to not make terrible games.

 

[Thedarkness77]

What's the deal with all of the layoffs in the game industry lately?

 

[darkcommanderq]

While this is terrible this didn't have to happen if SOE decided to not make terrible games.[/quote

110% Agree.

When I looked at new MMOs that came out, if the company managing it was SOE, I never think about it again. They really need to fix there image problem as well.

I dont think the MMO Market has any problems as a whole, more people are just wised up to the low quality of SOE games.

The loss of jobs pisses me off, because if SOE had not made such blunders in previous years maybe they would have avoided this.

 

[oldtaku]

While this is indeed suck for all those employees, and I feel for them, has Sony really been one of the 'big guys' in the MMO space since they totally dropped the ball after EQ1? What hot properties do they have now? Free Realms.

 

[000jinx]

Damnit. I hope Planetside: Next doesn't get scrapped. I've been waiting years for a decent MMOFPS to come out... Why is it that there are so many right-clicky-auto-attacky-hotbar MMO's and nothing twitch based?

Really? I think Planetside was one of the reasons SOE failed. I played PS for about a year then moved on. When I went back about 6 months later I realized why. How can you have a MMOFPS with an aiming reticle that's basically meaningless? I remember trying to figure out why I wasn't hitting the guys I was aiming at with a long range weapon so I started firing at a wall and realized half my shots were going wide... what? Level based or not your "bullets" should be going where they are aimed. Besides this major flaw I think PS could've been great and hopefully this will be fixed if Next ever ships because I did enjoy almost everything else about the game.

As far as SOE, they really haven't done anything worthwhile, imho as always, for quite awhile. I was really disappointed in EQ2 because it, again imho, strayed so far from EQ. Vanguard was the last SOE title I got excited about and, although I did play it for awhile, the seeming lack of support from SOE sank it for me. At this point it's like looking back at Blockbuster and trying to figure out what they were thinking. But I hope narrowing their focus will bring back what EQ was and PS could be. I'll never look at SOE with fondness, same as EA or anymore, Ubisoft, but I'll always be interested in what they could do.

I hope the people losing their jobs find work soon, I know from experience how tough it is in this economy and wish them all luck.

 

[Cat of Doom]

Have never been a fan of SOE, but im sorry that they have had to make cutbacks. Hope the workers can get back on there feet soon.

HOT TIP: I have a good freind who works for Criterion Games, in their guildford HQ. Apparently they are working on ideas for a new FPS and may need to take on some new developers, so keep an eye on them. Still these are just early ideas being tossed around in the boradroom, so take it for what it is.

(Though I hope they are considering a black sequal)

 

[mythgraven]

SOE's been something of a mismanaged cluster since.. forever. EQ was lightning in a bottle that they kept trying to recreate by throwing money around. It certainly needs to get smaller, but it needs a shakeup at the top more.

Shakeups at the top dont happen, brother.


Ever.


Whiskey Echo!!
Mythgraven

 

[oppp7]

Also, if they're doing so bad why the fuck did they donate $3.6 mil in Japan relief funds?

 

[Plunkies]

Good. They basically ruin everything they touch. Couldn't happen to a worse company.

 

[Valiance]

They say they're focusing on Planetside and Everquest.

In the event that Planetside Next doesn't come out, I still should have Tribes Universe.

That said, this is an extremely drastic change and layoffs affect everyone. It just goes to show you that there might not be as huge a market for these kinds of games anymore.

 

[Lightslei]

You have to also consider it in the method that with unemployment being relatively high, not as many individuals are willing to be as reckless with their money as they once were and are instead saving what they can to afford to keep themselves on their own feet at this point. Unless economically the world has a sudden gigantic upswing which I don't think is possible, news like this is inevitable amongst all types of consumer based companies.

 

[CommanderKirov]

NOOOO!
What will I do without my STAR WARS GALAXIES

*I cry manly tears. I cry manly tears*

 

[Lissa-QUON]

Also, if they're doing so bad why the fuck did they donate $3.6 mil in Japan relief funds?

Because they wanted to? For a tax write off? Also if the company was a large one 3 mil isn't that much money, it wasn't going to help save their sinking ship.

 

[Sarah Frazier]

While it sucks that so many people were laid off in a job market that isn't exactly looking for people with their talents... I can't help but think that SOE did this to themselves. Any game in SOE's hands start to go downhill until only the most die hard fans or players who don't want to lose all their pixelated glory remain. Either way, I wouldn't be surprised if repacking what they already have ends up being the only means of getting new players and tempting old ones back with teasing tidbits of what they once had.

 

[SomebodyNowhere]

I had been looking forward to The Agency for a while, but hoped that despite the long development time it would see the light of day. I guess that's not going to happen.