Not such good news :(

[fanpages]

[ http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=162101 ]
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160 job cuts planned for Sony Europe
Tuesday 17-Apr-2007 7:45 AM CEO David Reeves sends round an internal email

The European arm of Sony Computer Entertainment is preparing to lay off around 160 members of staff.

"The business targets that we face make this regrettably unavoidable," said president and CEO David Reeves in an internal email that Next-Gen reports has been leaked.

Apparently every SCEE employee will receive a letter on Wednesday informing him or her if they've been "provisionally selected at being at risk".

You can find the leaked email here [ http://www.destructoid.com/elephant/...photo_key=5738 ]

Gavin Ogden
===


A graphically-scaled-down image from the original source site (Destructoid.com) is attached to this message.

It begins:

"SCEE has successfully faced a number of challenges throughout its history to become a leader of the videogame industry - however our industry is in the middle of a period of transition where some of the fundamentals of our business are changing.

In order to further our market leadership we sometimes have to make difficult business decisions.

The management of the company has concluded that we need to change our structure, streamline and strengthen our business operations – and that our cost base needs to be significantly reduced.

We have been looking in the greatest detail at all areas of the business in order to reduce this cost base, and we have made and will be making a number of important structural changes within the Company. Regrettably, however we must now also look at the possibility of making compulsory redundancies in the UK offices, in WWS studios in Europe and in our territory offices. At present, it is envisaged that staff across all areas of the business are likely to be affected by the proposal.

By the close of business on Wednesday it is our intention to send a letter to every person in the company advising them whether they have been provisionally selected as being at risk of redundancy or whether they are not at risk of redundancy under the proposals we are making. Let me make this very clear – every person in the company will receive a letter.

We will then be undertaking individual consultation meetings with all staff identified as being at risk so that we can explain the process in more detail. These consultation meetings will cover ways to avoid or reduce the number of people who are likely to be made redundant, and ways to mitigate the effect of any redundancies. The next steps for those identified as ‘at risk’ will be sent out in the letter to be issued by close of business Wednesday. We do not want to prolong the period of uncertainty but we have to ensure that all options are explored before any final decisions are taken.

In order to achieve the necessary cost reductions it is possible that there will be up to 160 redundancies in total across SCEE offices in the UK, WWS in Europe and in the Territories. There are currently around 1,900 employees across the SCEE group including WWS in Europe…"


I sincerely hope for all those concerned that this is a spoof message from 1 April, but I suspect not


It again demonstrates the true cost & size of the gaming industry, and puts into perspective the difficult decisions made on a daily basis so that we can enjoy the benefits of the work of others.

Our thoughts go out to anybody affected.

BFN,

fp.

[fanpages]

There are loads of comments across various [other] sites blaming the inclusion of the Blu-Ray drive in the PS3, the PS3 in general, and the odd comment about "such-and-such a game title" causing the issue (mainly titles on the PSP).

Personally I think the whole games industry is suffering due to eBay sales. (Just like the music industry). Sony's decision may well be the start of the other market leaders following suit.

There is little, or no, money in selling consoles… all the revenue comes from titles & accessories. Loss-leading consoles to promote a brand are common-place.

If the market leaders get the download technology & available catalogue up to scratch then there's no reason why online downloads cannot be the saviour of the industry. Less than a tenner a title to download to your consoles' hard drive(s) would reduce piracy & would mean increased sales, not only because of a reduced cost-per-unit to the consumer, but also because there is no need to shop around for the cheapest deal & wait for delivery by standard postal services. There is also no need to scour car boot sales for fake versions, or chip a console to play cheaper imported versions of the same title. The decision by Sony to allow all three regions (Japan, US, and Europe) to be able to play PS3 (and PSP) game titles from any other region without restriction is also a way forward… but also promotes the use of eBay & other online vendors in order to source a similar, if not the same, cheaper title from overseas.

Yes, there are still some of us who want the (UK) box & the artwork, and the special collector's edition [I have pre-ordered the PS3 "Spider-man 3" from GAME, for instance, as this has an additional playable character above the standard issue], but a majority of people just want to try a demo, and either throw it away, or buy it straight away to play immediately & do not care about packaging.

That said, I've not bought anything from the PlayStation Network store as they haven't released the PS-One titles to Europe yet and, of course, my PSP is running Dark_AleX firmware so I need not buy a PSP title ever again… but even though this is the case, if I find a title I really like [i.e. want to play more than once], I will but it regardless of whether I have an ISO image of it already.

I have 13 commercially purchased PSP titles. It's the least I can do to support the jobs of 160 Sony staff...

BFN,

fp.

[fanpages]

Matt Martin at GamesIndustry.biz reported yesterday (16 December 2008)...
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Reeves: No plans to cut European staff
Matt Martin 16:41 (BST) 16/12/2008

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves has said that the company will not be cutting jobs in the PlayStation division, despite Sony Corporation looking to axe 8000 jobs by April 2010.

Last week, Sony Europe said that the PlayStation business in the region was not immune to the redundancies planned for the wider company – but Reeves has now made assurances that games staff are safe.

"We're certainly not planning to cut back in personnel at all. Half of our personnel are in the development of the games, that's an investment. We're not scaling down at all," Reeves told Dutch TV station RTL.

He also said that there are no plans to cut back on development of software in the coming months either.

"To my knowledge, no one is cutting back on the R&D side of the projects we're working on now. Sony live and die on the innovative projects they bring out.

"In our division we're still continuing to develop the products which we put in our mid-range plan six months ago, one year ago."

He added: "As long as we plan prudently, I think we will be fine. We have a good business model. People will continue to buy the hardware, continue to buy the software. I'm convinced of it."

However, Reeves did say that videogames aren't immune to the economic downturn, and he expects next year to be tougher for Sony as it will be for almost all businesses.

"It's not recession proof. I don't think any industry is and eventually we may see a downturn. For the moment, we're seeing our sales of both hardware and software are hitting projects in most countries in Europe."

While the economic climate puts the squeeze on consumer spending, Reeves said that videogame sales were still meeting expectations, and he found it difficult to explain why games are seemingly riding out the credit crunch.

"[It's] difficult to explain, it could be that parents don't want to disappoint their children in buying PlayStation's, or whether it's the competition as well. Or maybe it that people are spending more time at home and this is a safe haven."
---

BFN,

fp.

[1UPGamer]

The whole world is going through a down turn and the games industry is unfortuntely not immune. There will probably more re-orgs and changes within the big gaming players so I guess we can expect to see more of the same.

Eidos for example is on the verge of buyout by either Warner or Square Enix, so i guess a few job cuts here and there isn't too bad... Just my thoughts...

[fanpages]

"Timesplitters 4" (and "Star Wars Battlefront 3") will now be a distant memory as Free Radical Design closed their doors for good today & went into 'administration' due to the economic climate, as well as market (and critical) indifference to their "Haze" product.

Taken from the "Nottingham Evening Post"...

185 jobs at risk at computer games company

Thursday, December 18, 2008, 15:33
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A Computer games company which employs 185 people has gone in to administration.

Staff at Free Radical Design, which is based in Bostocks Lane, Sandiacre, turned up to work this morning to find the locks had been changed.

A note stuck on the door told them to attend a meeting at the nearby Novotel at midday.

Cameron Gunn, of Resolve Partners, the administrators that have been called in to deal with the firm, said: "The company was placed in to administration yesterday afternoon".

"We will be spending the next three or four days assessing the financial position of the company but it's business as usual, although we have asked that almost all of the employees apart from a skeleton crew remain at home."

"All employees have been paid up until the end of December and we hope to make another announcement before Christmas or very soon thereafter, but we must stress at this stage that it's business as usual."
---

BFN,

fp.

[fanpages]

Does anyone have a fond memory of the Ultimate (Play The Game) "Jetpac" title from 1983, written/drawn by brothers Chris & Tim Stamper (who later founded Rareware)?

I was more taken by their other classic Ultimate titles (my favourites of which were "Sabre Wulf", "Knight Lore", "Atic Atac", "Nightshade", & "Alien 8"), before the progression of the dynamic (graphical/coding) duo through other platforms & erm, ultimately, producing "Viva Piñata" for the Xbox 360.

Worthly of mention in this time(splitting)line we should be thankful that some of development team members at Rareware (alphabetically; David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton, Graeme Norgate & Lee Rayat) who worked on the Nintendo 64 (1997) "Goldeneye 007" title left the company after the game's release (and early into the development of "Perfect Dark") & formed Free Radical Design.

Without this move the "Timesplitters" franchise (originally for the Sony PlayStation 2, but later series titles for the Nintendo GameCube & Microsoft Xbox) would not have been created. (And "Haze" too, of course).

As the vultures (from other development houses; Realtime Worlds, Codemasters, Monumental & Eurocom) descend on (or offer condolences, if you prefer, to) the staff left in limbo with Free Radical Design, artist Nick Carver is now available for hire.

Take a look at the work he produced for the "Timesplitters 4" title as collated at ComputerAndVideoGames.com (from an entry from his personal blog).

Hopefully the remaining employees will be asked back to work after the festive break when a suitable buyer has been found as administrators at ReSolve have relayed that there is "significant interest shown in buying the troubled developer".

However, in other news, "Electronic Arts has revealed the severity of its current financial situation by announcing 1,000 jobs will be cut by March 31, 2009".

Kris Graft reports (on 19 December 2008) on the Edge-Online.com web site...
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Electronic Arts on Friday revealed the severity of its current financial situation by announcing 1,000 jobs will be cut by March 31, 2009.

The reduction accounts for 10 percent of the company's global workforce, and will save EA around $120 million annually. Restructuring charges amount to $55-$65 million for the next "several" quarters, the publisher said.

Originally, EA had announced that only 6 percent of jobs would be cut in the near future.

Along with the job cuts, EA also said it would be closing or consolidating "at least" nine studios and publishing locations. One location, Vancouver-based Need for Speed developer EA Black Box, will be consolidated, along with its franchises, into a nearby EA studio in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Earlier this month, EA announced that it lowered fiscal 2009 guidance due to lower-than-expected sales of holiday releases.

The publisher said in a statement Friday that it will stay the course. "EA is implementing a plan to narrow its product portfolio to focus on hit games with higher margin opportunities.

"The company remains committed to taking creative risks, investing in new games, leading the industry in the growing mobile and online businesses, and delivering high-quality games to consumers."
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There is also industry engine rumblings about the current "Need for Speed" franchise title ("Undercover") being the last in the long-running series due to combination of poor sales, critical indifference, and current economic conditions.

Is there no start to the good news at present...?

BFN,

fp.

[fanpages]

The sorry state of Character Artists...

Here is the personal portfolio for a soon-to-be ex-employee of Midway Studios Newcastle, the co-developer of recent title "The Wheelman":

[ http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?t=64135 ]

BFN,

fp.

[DaymanOhhhh]

The video game industry needs to lift a giant electronic middle finger to the recession. Create the most overly hyped, expensive game ever created and sell it all over the world. Follow in the footsteps of Jerry Jones and his new Cowboys Stadium. Just say F it and plow through. The rough economic times will be over eventually. These things do not last forever.