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Denver, 1:24 PM
Sun Nov 22
17 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/19/09
11/18/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
EA "we fired everyone at pandemic but just wanted all their fans to know that we are going to keep using the pandemic name to sell you stuff."
thanks EA... #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
As for their games, I have to be honest the only ones I really liked were Battlezone II and Star Wars: Battlefront. So that's like 5 years since I've bought one of their games. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
As sad as it is, it's either this or dry up and blow away. I don't like it any more than any of you, but it is what it is....Business. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
It's sink or swim and all of that talent isn't going to waste. They are keeping some people. They made it clear that they are absorbing the brand into EA. like I said it sucks, but it is what it is. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
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11/17/09
Unless you worked there, that's just wishful thinking. There is no way to predict that. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
11/17/09
Back to the corporate dogma of acquiring and then killing some of the best pools of talent in the industry during the mid to late 1990's... and then subsequently destroying the gaming brands those studio's built up by internalizing sequel development and turning out poor-man's rehashes that pale in comparison to the originals.
Who, other than EA shareholders, is this supposed to be good for?
I was no lover of Pandemic games, other than the Full Spectrum Warrior Xbox games, but that doesn't mean they deserved to be shut down and their brand identity gutted from the people who made it what it was... #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
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11/17/09
Seems to happen a lot lately with these large game companies. They "buy" the recognized IP's and can just kick out the company that built them as they can just move the development to their own studio(s). They retain the minimum people who worked on the IP's that really shaped those games, and everyone else falls to the way side because lets face it, most of the human parts required to make a game can be replaced. #pandemicstudios
11/18/09
Does the former president of the studio make out like a bandit for being acquired even though he knows they just inevitably want the rights to the IP? Does the whole team benefit from the promise that they may get an assured 2~6 years more payed work with corporate backing to produce possible titles, even though job security is no longer decided by the financial success of their own work.
11/18/09
Back before the internet bubble burst, the owner of the company I worked for sold us to some foreign company who guaranteed that they wouldn't layoff anyone. The company that bought us even had a rep flown in, gathered everyone in the conference room and gave us some rah rah everything is going to be A-ok pep talk. Well, 1.5 months later half the work force was laid off, and another 1.5 months later they laid off everyone else and moved all the work we've been doing to their own development staff overseas.
The company that bought us really just wanted what we were working on, not the people. And the owners who sold got the money for the company and were happy. Who gets shafted? Everyone else who worked at the company, heh.
But... it's the way the world works. Gotta be at the top.
11/17/09
Starwars: War of The Waggle Battlefront Wii Edition. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
They don't do that, they respect independent IPs and give them freedom to work
wait a second did I just say what I think I said oh my god oh my god #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
It's always been about the profit. Always. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
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11/17/09
...If they don't preform well, that is. If a studio makes a successful game, they'll stick around. If they don't, they'll be 'restructured' to fit the companies goals of being a 'leaner', 'more cost-effective' company. Buzz words to offset a 52 week low stock price.
But if you step into the shoes of an EA exec, what else can you do? Its a publicly traded company thats hemorrhaging money due to a culture of waste and doing the least amount of work possible. At least they're taking steps to fix this. And in this case it means thousands of layoffs in less than a year.
At least theyre closing the right studios. Pandemic didn't have the greatest track record, their games were always a bit lackluster. Lackluster games don't make it in an industry where only the games in the top 20 category are making money.
Still, its hard to see any studio closed, in the end it means less for us to play, and continues to strain the workforce of a hurting industry.
Good luck, and my condolences to all who have been affected by these layoffs. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
And besides, in the end, if their games don't make enough money it's because we as consumers didn't buy their games - so I guess the blame should be on us? #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
At first I suspected hate, but you make reasonable points. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
Both of those games could have been huge, the LotR brand is pretty much a certificate to print money, and Mercs 2 was coming from a surprising deep and successful Mercenaries game. They failed to make these games AAA, and the market responded with lower than expected sales.
When you have lower than expected sales, you'll have higher than expected lay-offs, its just the way the market is these days. Money talks, bullshit walks.
But its never the consumers fault. The costumer is always right, especially when it comes to what they find fun. Pandemic wasn't raising the bar, either through mismanagement or rushed timelines or whatever, the fact of the matter is they didnt offer the consumer the type of quality we've come to expect. And they got the axe for it. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
Yeah, but Pandemic did the first two, and there was rumor they picked up 3 after free radical. #pandemicstudios
11/17/09
11/17/09
But yeah, Battlefront 3 is going for some sort of high score.