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More layoffs at Daybreak.

Discussion in 'EverQuest II General Discussion' started by Uxtalzon, Oct 11, 2019.

  1. Uxtalzon

    Uxtalzon Member

    • Informative Informative x 6
  2. Clementine

    Clementine Active Member

    Interesting timing, them doing this just after the Activision Blizzard controversy. I wonder if that was intentional or just a coincidence.

    Either way I wonder what Daybreak's plans for the future are now that Arena has flopped. They don't have a whole lot going on besides nostalgia and a half-finished EQ3. If they even have a half-finished EQ3.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. Cindrax

    Cindrax Active Member

    PSA was probably released only to fail so they could write it up as loss vs other profits.

    I hope the ones that got laid off find new jobs soon, hopefully in a better place then the "milking factory" of DBG.
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  4. Sweatypie

    Sweatypie Active Member

    Every DBG developer the last 5 years.

     
    Last edited: Oct 12, 2019
    • Funny Funny x 2
  5. Uxtalzon

    Uxtalzon Member

    Looks like EQ and EQ2 were untouched, per cute ratman Ttobey:

    More Layoffs at Daybreak | EverQuest 2 Forums

    The layoffs were deep cuts in PS2 and PS:A. I can't find the tweets anymore, but leaks claiming early 2020 is planned for PS2's shut down time. PS:A is ded gaem.

    If PS:A doesn't survive to 2020 you'd be exactly right. Attempting to release in January as B2P against Apex Legends was suicide, so it makes sense they'd delay it to a deadline that lets them sunset it before the end of 2020 as a write-off for this year. PS2 will be the write-off for 2020. My opinion, but completely agree.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  6. Fuli

    Fuli Well-Known Member

    Well, not like we didn't see this coming. I thought it would be: h1z1->ps2/A->eq2.

    Still leaning zombies get it by the end of the year.

    Longdale better hope for a decent expansion turn-out, but based on the forums, not feeling a whole lot of excitement.

    PS2A was very obviously yet another game killed by incompetent senior management.

    My heart goes out to those let go. At least they'll now have an opportunity to go work for a real business.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
  7. Uxtalzon

    Uxtalzon Member

    H1Z1 wasn't shut down yet? Then you might be right. lol
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  8. Castegyre

    Castegyre Active Member

    I have mixed feelings about the employees. I hate to see them mistreated or lose their income, but at the same time every day that goes by where they don't explore other options knowing the nature of the beast they work for my sympathy wanes.
     
    • Agree Agree x 6
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  9. Cindrax

    Cindrax Active Member

    Official statement is out from DBG:

    "We are taking steps to improve our business and to support our long-term vision for the existing franchises and development of new games. This will include a realignment of the company into separate franchise teams, which will allow us to highlight their expertise, better showcase the games they work on, and ultimately provide tailored experiences for our players. Unfortunately, some employees were impacted by this effort, and we’re doing what we can to support them during this challenging time."

    Last stage of the milking and gutting of the company has begun. They can now take more loans on each IP to drain them even more before bankrupting them, or try find a buyer for each.... whatever what will give them the most profits.
     
    • Agree Agree x 4
    • Informative Informative x 1
  10. Alarra

    Alarra Active Member

    This reads as split and sell to me.
     
    • Agree Agree x 4
  11. BisonZabi

    BisonZabi New Member

    That's just the nature of the game industry. It's a well known fact the moment you decide that you want to enter the business that your chances of finding yourself laid off multiple times throughout your career is practically inevitable.

    The moment SoE became DBG I knew that the company was finished and that it would die a slow but assured death. To my surprise, the company managed to survive for almost 5 years instead of 2-4.

    I personally do not see any of the franchises selling well. The Everquest IP isn't worth practically anything. The Planetside IP might have a fighting chance though it as well isn't too unique for people to heavily desire it.
     
  12. Feldon

    Feldon Administrator Staff Member

    Sony was selling off divisions to raise cash. Columbus Nova was looking to launder rubles for investments. SOE becoming Daybreak didn't have to be a net negative at all, except that the company was already a house of cards. CN actually made significant improvements, introducing real fiscal accountability to each team and to the company as a hole, all things that Smedley never did. But it was too late. $100 million of revenues from EQ, EQ2, and SWG which should have been reinvested had instead been burnt up on FreeRealms, The Agency, EQNext/Landmark, H1Z1:KotK (which admittedly made a ton of money for 6 months but is now dead as a doornail).
    I too would question the sanity of anyone who offered to pay a lot of money for the EverQuest IP. For every diehard customer you'd pick up, you'd get 2 angry former customers.

    EQNext was sold with all smoke and mirrors and nothing really tangible. After burning so many customers, the only way a new EverQuest is going to get funding from players is if an incredible game is showed off in a late alpha development state where major parts of the game are functional. We're talking 3 years of solid development by 50-70 designers, artists, animators, programmers, and creative leads to get to that point. If they show off anything less mature than that, people are going to say "you fooled me once".

    Pantheon, which people are holding up as EverQuest Jesus, has been in development for 3 1/2 years. Granted it had a small team for the first year or so. But you're not going to make an MMO from an idea to completion in less than 2 years. Ask Brad how Vanguard worked out.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2019
    • Agree Agree x 5
  13. Fuli

    Fuli Well-Known Member

    We were talking about "market harvesting" strategies popular with bottom feeding investment companies a couple of years ago. Welp, you now you guys have seen first hand what that looks like.
     
    • Agree Agree x 4
  14. Zhaanish

    Zhaanish Active Member

    I still feel bad for the employees. I hear what you're saying but sometimes it's hard to find another job depending on age, experience, and the market. Plus in the gaming industry there's always a risk of jumping from the frying pan to the fire.
     
    • Agree Agree x 3
    • Appreciation Appreciation x 1
  15. Feldon

    Feldon Administrator Staff Member

    The longer they stay working on a game with a 15 year old engine and 15 year old tools, the worse off they're going to be when they finally move on (by choice or by force) to another gaming studio. They've been using bear skins and stone knives all this time while the rest of the industry is using Unreal 4 and modern tools and workflows. It's going to be a massive shock.
     
    • Agree Agree x 5
  16. Dizzy

    Dizzy Active Member

    If some of the glassdoor reviews are correct some of them positively enjoy using the stone knives and cannot cope when anything more modern is suggested :)
     
    • Funny Funny x 3
  17. Meneltel

    Meneltel Active Member


    Too bad Leonard Nimoy isn't around anymore to help with their "stone knives and bear skins". Oh well, that's DBG's problem, not mine.
     
    • Funny Funny x 2
  18. Feldon

    Feldon Administrator Staff Member

    Glad someone got my reference. :)
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  19. Meneltel

    Meneltel Active Member

    Hey, I play a whale game called Star Trek Online, so I had better get the reference! But im no whale, im not even a minnow! But I still have fun.
     
    • Like Like x 1
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  20. Uxtalzon

    Uxtalzon Member

    Looks like the cuts were a bit too deep for PS2? Hackers and cheaters going unpunished, maximum trolling and swearing on the forums.

    I'm sure Feldon would know more about this, but it feels like any game DBG has made with Forgelight can't handle or detect hackers unless it's through some manual per-basis thing. Players would have to literally ping a developer on Discord (now laid off) to investigate. Back during H1Z1 pre-split, players could get away with it for weeks if nobody reported them. Feels the same way with EQ1 and EQ2 - botters openly running groups for days or weeks, but no amount of reporting does anything as long as they aren't hindering gameplay for others or something.

    Didn't PS:A have hackers day 1? Imagine if they appear during the weekend dev alert thing, ruining it for hundreds of players. That'd be terrible, making Daybreak look bad.
     
    • Informative Informative x 1

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