disturbance in the workforce

Aliens: Colonial Marines Dev In Trouble, Owe Pizza Restaurant Money

Timegate studios, the co-developers of the awful Aliens: Colonial Marines, are in serious financial trouble. Filing for bankruptcy protection in a Texas court, they owe a lot of people a lot of money.


Layoffs At EA Today

We’ve heard from a couple of sources that EA is cutting jobs today with estimates of as much as 10 per cent of the workforce. EA won’t comment on teams affected or the headcount, but this means that fewer people are working at the company that brings you everything from Madden to Battlefield to The Sims.


THQ Chooses Today Of All Days To Fire Employees, Close Studio

On the very day the deal was publicly announced which saw the rights to the UFC franchise pass from THQ to EA, the former has reportedly closed its San Diego studio, which was last responsible for WWE All Stars.


Every Game Studio That’s Closed Down Since 2006

Pub trivia fans and those looking for an example of just how cut-throat the video game industry can be, take a look at this list. Try and memorise it if you must, but know it is very long, because it’s a list of every developer and studio that’s closed down since 2006.


Layoffs At Gameforge Jeopardize Free-to-Play Star Trek—Infinite Space

Today, Gameforge, the German-based publisher of browser-based video games, laid off 100 workers in a restructuring that cancelled two games and threatens its biggest property, Star Trek–Infinite Space.


Dead Space Satellite Studio Goes Belly-Up

Visceral Games, the team behind the Dead Space series, had a small studio based in Melbourne, Australia. That studio is now no more. Its 21 employees have already been let go.


A Three-Minute Look At THQ’s Avengers, Disassembled

THQ’s big-time bloodletting back in August meant the end of its Brisbane, Australia studio and scuttled the publisher’s planned video game adaptation of The Avengers. Footage of the game in its pre-alpha state released last week and was immediately smashed by YouTube. Now another video has leaked out.


Epic Exec Says ‘Stupid Acquisitions’ Lead To Studio Closures

Noting the string of studio closures lately, the chief of European operations for Epic Games says there’s a pretty simple cause for them.


SOCOM Studio Hit With Layoffs; Sony Calls Them Routine

Scuttlebutt has it that the Sony Computer Entertainment studio Zipper Interactive, maker of combat shooters MAG and the SOCOM series, lost several employees in a round of layoffs today. Reached for comment, a Sony spokesperson confirmed layoffs at Zipper, characterizing them as “normal business practice and a result of cutting back on production resources after the launch of two major franchises.” Sony would not specify how many positions were lost.


Sony’s MMO Studio Confirms Layoffs, Closes Book On The Agency

Yesterday’s rumours have proven true, as Sony Online Entertainment confirms 205 cut positions, the closure of three studio locations, and puts the final bullet in the head of massively multiplayer online spy game The Agency.


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