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And another one bites the dust ...
I'm curious if and how this will affect the quality and quantity of "World Of WarCraft", and its release date.
Quote:Sierra hard-hit as VU Games axes 350 jobs
Rob Fahey 10:07 22/06/2004
No cuts at Blizzard, but Sierra winks out of existence as Vivendi restructures
Vivendi Universal Games has announced that 350 staff have been laid off as part of the firm's restructuring efforts, representing some 40 per cent of its US workforce - with the toughest cuts coming at the Sierra operation.
Reports this morning indicate that almost the entirety of the staff at the former Sierra offices at Bellevue, Washington have been laid off, and the office itself is due to close within the next two months - although it's expected that VUG will continue to use the Sierra brand.
The closures of two studios last month - Papyrus Studios (creators of the NASCAR titles) and Impressions Games (creators of strategy titles Zeus and Cleopatra) have also been included in the layoffs figure which was released last night.
However, the Blizzard Entertainment studio apparently remains unaffected by the layoffs, with none of its staff - currently working on massively multiplayer title World of Warcraft, which is due for release later this year - being made redundant in the move.
"Restructuring the organisation and reducing our cost base are necessary to improve our operating effectiveness and profitability," according to VU Games CEO Bruce Hack. "This constitutes another important step in our turnaround plan aimed to better position the company for growth."
It's not yet clear which products will be affected by the layoffs; although CNN/Money this morning reports that the Hoyle range of card and board game adaptations will be cancelled as a result of the Sierra closure. Titles such as Ground Control 2, Half-Life 2 and Tribes: Vengeance, which are being published on the Sierra label, will not be hit as they are being worked on by external developers and handled by the VU Games parent.
In related news, former Vivendi Universal chairman Jean-Marie Messier has been arrested by French police this week in connection with an alleged stock manipulation scheme; his arrest follows the earlier arrests of former CFO Guillaume Hannezo and two other senior executives. Messier was replaced by current CEO Jean-Rene Fourtou in mid-2002 after it emerged that Vivendi Universal was on the verge of bankruptcy following an acquisition spree on Messier's part.
LINK: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page....me=pub&aid=3647
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Eh, it happens. I seem to recall that Vivendi was going the way of Enron, or something to that effect.
I don't think they'll cut into Blizzard until they're on their very last pair of legs; Blizzard has one of the most successful track records of any game company out there, which means they're making a LOT of money. And it's not like it's a new trend; Blizzard has made nothing but grade-A (arguably, anyway) titles ever since it came into existence. Even The Lost Vikings and Blackthorne were well-polished games, for their time.
I still mourn the loss of Papyrus.
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What can you say -- even leaving Vivendi's special problems aside, the video game industry is pretty brutal.
I don't think this will affect WoW directly, but I believe the jury is still out on a Blizzard MMORPG (and most of the other MMORPGs have already been voted down). I do wonder, though, how Blizzard will fare after WoW, given all the talent they've lost.
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This sucks. :( They made great games.
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[sarcasm]Yes, that's right, let's get rid of the people who brought us Ceasar III, but give us the chance to get rid of GF...
humbug! that's why VU is going down the pan, talk about a bad business decision[/sarcasm]
Actually, I rather like ceasar III, it's just the Carthage level that's messed up.
-Bob
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Ugly. WoW won't be affected, but it will be under even more pressure to generate Le Cash now. Expect majority opinion/cancelling subscribers to have huge sway in gameplay issues if it goes further; but as it stands now, I'd expect Blizzard to remain completely autonomous and good to go. You don't kill the golden goose, no matter how hungry you are.
;)
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The small innovative companies like Flagship Studios might not exist if it weren't for companies like Vivendi/Universal to chew up and/or rape the medium sized successful companies for their "brand" assets -- and totally ignore the importance of knowledge and experience in making a successful product. A bane of our times is short term thinking, and once you have a profit motivated board of directors and investors to serve, naught else matters.
Sounds like this guy Jean-Marie Messier is an honest, straight shooter. :blink: The type of guy you'd entrust with your career.
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Bob i resent that. I loved Ceasar III
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Too bad. Well, I liked Caesar III, which I think was Sierra, and am looking forward to Half Life 2, but that link said HL2 is licensed by Sierra but isnât even being made by them! So all in all, no big loss for me; I wasn't a big fan of them anyways. And now that Blizzard lost it's talent, well at least the ones who made the games I love, I could care less if they dissolve. At least I know those talented game creators will make their own companies (yet again) and produce better games.
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no, no, my point was that I love Ceasar III too, and I'm annoyed that they've axed the people who made that, while leaving GF untouched. I just hate the Carthage level because you start with a town which is built on the natives land and gets destroyed in short order.
-Bob
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