October 6 Developers Gears of War: E-Day having said Eurogamer Microsoft-owned studio The Coalition has so far emerged fairly unscathed from Microsoft’s waves of brutal gaming layoffs this year, but after the loss of game story director Juan Vaca two weeks ago and the barrage of thousands of job losses across Xbox teams this year, many other team members are certain their time could soon be up as well.
Eurogamer spoke to a number of The Coalition staffers for its story, who said that until recently they had remained convinced that their studio could perhaps be spared Microsoft’s worst budget cuts among its many Xbox developers. As the people behind the key franchise War equipmentand with such a major release so imminent, it was hoped that the staff would be able to escape the ax following Electronic dayliberation. Today, many people working in the business feel very differently.
As Kotaku According to a September 22 report, Vaca was not the only Coalition member to lose his job, but a source told us the total number was “less than a handful.” These defeats appear to have shaken the confidence of the remaining team, who hoped that the release of Gears of War: E-Day and subsequent patches and support would keep them secure, at least for now. NOW Eurogamer reports that staff are “unhappy and nervous because we honestly expected the layoffs to hit us after the release, but that doesn’t seem to matter now.” The disappearance of teammates moments before what should have been the game’s celebratory release destroyed morale. “Now we’re just waiting for the next wave, or a reorganization under Activision or something like that later this year,” the source added.
The bonus round
In addition to a life-changing job loss, the impending layoffs at The Coalition could also result in another financial loss for current employees. According to Eurogamer, Electronic day developers worked under the assumption of receiving a so-called “Metacritic bonus”, a payment if the game achieved a given Metacritic score, based on critics’ reviews. However, according to the conditions, to be entitled to it, you must still be working in the company at the time of payment, which should take place “around the end of October”. Anyone let go before then would probably no longer be able to receive the reward for their work.
It’s unfortunately not uncommon for AAA development teams to experience a wave of layoffs after a game’s release. Teams hire more members as projects accelerate, but no longer need as large a staff after release. This is a recurring problem for the gaming industry, due to a lack of unionization, widespread reliance on short-term contracts, and the cyclical nature of games that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to create. But the Coalition had reason to be more optimistic, given the hands-off way Microsoft had treated it previously and the hit games it produces. That hope now appears to have dissipated following the demoralization that swept across Microsoft’s studios after such a horrible year.
It’s of course unclear yet whether the pessimism of The Coalition staff will prove true, and we certainly hope Microsoft honors the bonuses even if people are laid off. Regardless, this is a horrible situation for Microsoft’s remaining developers.
Gn tech
