#10 Electronic Arts Cuts 1,500
We could have done an entire listing here for layoffs and studio closures; while they happen every year, the sting was more acute given economic downturns (notable closures include Grin and Shaba Games) . The largest layoffs of the year, however, came from EA and their planned sacking of 1,500 employees. Maxis, the Command & Conquer team and Mythic all were reportedly affected, though none was hit harder than Pandemic. The makers of Destroy All Humans!, Mercenaries and the recently released Saboteur were closed entirely and their franchises relocated to EALA. This move sounds like one that would leave a gray cloud over the heads of its employees, but BioWare said that it was “business as usual” after the fall of their partner in VG Holdings Company and EA CEO John Riccitiello believes that the remaining employees support the move as a means to make the company stronger.
#9 Games Industry Retreats into 2010
While the holiday season is a large one for gaming, it typically is one dominated by the biggest releases of the year, like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed II and New Super Mario Bros. Wii – this trend usually means that smaller titles get pushed out to the periphery. Singularity was the first title to be delayed, but that was followed by the 'shocking' news that BioShock 2 was being moved back to early 2010. Delays just became endemic after that, with Sega delaying Bayonetta, Ubisoft moving Red Steel 2 and Splinter Cell: Conviction into 2010, Capcom purposefully having Dark Void give Halo 3: ODST and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 a miss, StarCraft II not shipping until next year, and finally Blur confirmed as a non 2009 release. While we think it's smart that these titles have been moved out of the Q4 2009 time frame, it's ironically made early 2010 just as crowded between delayed and previously scheduled (God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Gran Turismo 5, Heavy Rain) releases leading Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot to theorize that more titles will be pushed back later in 2010.
4 Comments
December 21, 2009
Sorry about midway and especially about eidos going with square enix. They were big when I really somewhat cared about gaming during sega and ps1 times.
Pspstop, how clever.
Guess we should be grateful for #13.
slim & Okay i'd say. The big old 6 gig is a lot more attractive imo.
Anyway way very good list. Motion controls, price cuts and music games. #1 and 2 stand out but it's especially good to read 2.
December 23, 2009
Best story has to be #2. Really more like an epiphany for the industry though. Core-gamers are sustainable sources of revenue unlike the generally whimsical casual crowd.
December 23, 2009
I meant 60 gig. I think I need recharge my keyboard batteries lol.
January 4, 2010
Yep gamers, your commitment to your hobby of choice pays off. Congrats!