Jason West, a co-creator of Call of Duty and co-founder of video game studio Respawn Entertainment, has left the company he helped found, two sources have informed Kotaku. The departure was amicable.
West, who left because of family issues, has been gone since last May, according to one reliable source who asked not to be named.
Respawn Entertainment faces major layoffs as part of an industry-wide trend, impacting key titles like Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi.
"Game Industry Faces Changes"
So true we went from dozens and dozens of game makers in the ps1-3 era with so many playstation games to this crap gen.
Game companies went from millionaires to billionaires but still act like they are homeless if a game makes a few million its a disaster of apocalyptic proportions now.
I fired up the ps5 the other day say dragons dogma 2 for $93 cad regular version just a yep sure do not even get the full game $33 more than the last game new a version that was full but i paid like $13 for the first game.
I can see gta 6 getting a ubisoft chart of version's in which it will cost you hundreds to get the full experience.
Greed greed greed
They act like they are losing money.
One year they make 40 million
Next year they make 37 million
Instead of looking at that and saying “We made 37 million year 2”, they look at it and say “We lost 3 million year 2. Time to make layoffs”
Greedy Companies & Shareholders
exactly except they are basing it off of covid days.
They are making billions yet cry when it close to the million mark
Embracer had a 4% growth yes mass layoffs and all that but 12 billion? so what they could not survive on 8ish billion if they kept all those jobs.
https://embracer.com/releas...
I mean thats business isnt it, share holders get less on their return than last year. New investers see a downward trend. Projections are cut.
Its rainbows and sunshine to celebrate the positives (yay 37mil), but if you took 7.5% drop of youre income next year would you be thankful or look to find a positive?
Not saying its cool, just saying thats life, in every industry.
Gaming industry has grown so much and so fast that way too many suits got involved who don’t understand the business. Unless a company is private geeed will be next level. It’s not longer about hobby and developers being gamers themselves
Now it’s about AAA games costing $200-$300 million. We went from a lot of mid size developers and publishers to now having AAA or indies
As always, not seeing any VP+ departures or sacrifices (aka no bonus this year). Great deal...
It’s clear to me that these industry wide layoffs are because the game makers expect AI to do this work for less. Companies that are not struggling and not seeing lower sales are laying people off. It’s not market driven.
This! I've said this before. All these mass layoffs and in droves too. All to do with AI. They won't admit it. But it's cutting them costs. I mean even for a simple thing such as art they're taking over.
SImple greed. When Share holders interest come first than company goals is when everything starts going south. Companies forget what they started business for... to do games, to make movies, to build hardware. to bring something to the endo consumer. Sure, profit is to be had in exchange, after all it is a business. No one is denying that.
But when profit becomes the end all be all... this starts to happen. Companies cut costs, they look at less than stellar earnings as total failure, they fire people, they lower the quality of their product. And, in the long run, they hurt their reputation.
I guess it´s OK as long as shareholders made their projected earnings, what do they care for long term health of their investments... right?
The lack of long erm vision is nerve wrecking. This tendenc of maximizing revenue above all and shareholder worship is literally killing entire industries.
Games, movies... at the end of the day the worst that will happen is people say: this game sucks. And sadly, people get fired. But damn... plane and car manufacturers do the same with far more dire end results... cost cutting and cutthroat business practices where they have no place.
Laura Miele writes:
"[Re: Respawn] ... we have decided to pivot away from early development on a Star Wars FPS Action game to focus our efforts on new projects based on our owned brands while providing support for existing games."
"[Re: Battlefield Studios] ... we immediately appointed leadership at Criterion to oversee our single-player work. As part of this change, we'll be winding down Ridgeline as a standalone studio in Seattle, with some team members joining Ripple Effect. They'll continue to work with teams across DICE, Ripple, and Criterion as they build the next Battlefield experience."
"[Re Mobile] ... we have brought together the mobile and HD franchise teams under singular leadership across EA SPORTS FC, Madden NFL, and The Sims. The next step is setting up our standalone mobile portfolio for growth. Over the past few weeks, we have announced we are sunsetting Kim Kardashian Hollywood, Lord of the Rings, Tap Sports Baseball, and F1 Mobile."
If true, then VERY smart move by EA. No one wanted this game. No one at all. I mean, a possibly First Person Titanfall like game starting the Mandalorian??? PFFT!!! As if...MID!!!
EA Sports - There is no Game!
@SimpleSlave sorry mate but looking at you dislikes, seems some people are still not versed in the art of sarcasm...
But yeah I agree with you.
No worries. It's oddly entertaining to see people get mad for no reason. Especially when the sarcasm is pretty obvious.
But how does it go over people's head like that? Now that's a good question.
EA has to be one of most idiotic publishers out there along with Ubisoft. These heads have no idea what they’re doing.
And just a week ago we were excited for a Mandalorian FPS. And more job losses - 1500 industry workers in just Sony and EA alone this week so far. Terrible news after terrible news.
WTF?!?!
They cancelled the most anticipated EA game from Respawn devs?
Are you ******* kidding me ?!
Addendum, with all these changes (not mistakes) that resulted in over 1k layoffs since last March, the Executive team will not be receiving a 40% salary bonus in 2024. That is now reduced to 38%.
EA: We were making a game that ppl wanted and realized we could make a worse game and make more money.
“Jason and Vince just got fired!” A lead artist shouted, as he rode in on one of the many small kick-push scooters that would typically lay around the studio. He quickly scooted away to some other part of the office space to spread that shocking message.
A friend worked there in production and was miserable due to working with IW and with ATVI. When he complained to his VP about it, he was told...be glad you have a job and are making games.
Sounds about right, but is also sounds like something Infinity Ward would say. They made their own bed and cashed in hard to do it. F em.
That sucks, but that’s corporate America. I mean, they could’ve turned down the money and leave to Respawn too. At least they got something, my corporation would’ve probably expected everyone to go back to normal.
daaaym
"oh we're running ur life? pff get over it, like honestly"
scum
I mean, if my company wants to give me a bonus and raise my salary by 50%, I'd get over whatever the hell they wanted me to. 🤷♂️
since last may??
wow, that's a long time.
If family issues were a factor in his departure, I hope everything turns out fine for him.
He's been gone since last May? That was right after Activision settled with them and paid them like 40 million dollars. Coincidence?
man that sucks, family issues are never a good thing to carry around on a daily basis, can't imagine the stress it must've caused him. I wish him and his family all the best.
I also hope the studio is nearing Alpha stage so that this doesn't really affect the game.
been waiting for this for a really long time!