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Reports: Factor 5, Turbine cut staff

Developers of Lair, Lord of the Rings Online added to list of industry employers laying off employees in time for the holidays.

The gaming industry's belt-tightening continued today with the announcement from beleaguered publisher Midway Games that it would be laying off one quarter of its global workforce, approximately 180 people. According to a pair of additional reports, the unemployed talent pool has grown even deeper than that today, with more layoffs at Factor 5 and Turbine Entertainment.

Best known for developing the PlayStation 3 exclusive Lair and the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series, Factor 5 was the subject of rumored turmoil last week. An animator with the company posted on his blog that employees had not been paid in a month and were told by a studio executive to start looking for work if the operation hadn't secured funding within a week.

Now, Edge Online is reporting that 37 people--roughly half of the Factor 5 staff--were laid off by the company last Friday. Citing a "well-placed" source, Edge also reported that Factor 5 is considering taking legal action against the animator.

Turbine's situation appears less drastic than that of Factor 5. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz and confirmed by GameSpot, Turbine has cut head count in the QA and account-management departments of both its Massachusetts and California operations.

"Yesterday Turbine took steps to align our business to successfully achieve our strategic goals in the years ahead," a Turbine representative said. "As part of this transition, some of our talented colleagues will not be with us going forward. We remain committed to delivering on the high level of quality entertainment services that our growing community of customers have come to trust from Turbine."

Based in Westwood, Massachusetts, Turbine is a massively multiplayer online game specialist with a portfolio of games including Asheron's Call, Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, and Lord of the Rings Online. It shipped the first expansion to its Lord of the Rings game, Mines of Moria, last month.

33 Comments

  • Media_Mind

    Posted Dec 20, 2008 9:46 am GMT

    ripple effect

  • CrushedGroove

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 3:42 pm GMT

    Still sad every time news like this gets released. I couldn't imagine the level of fear and uncertainty that someone must feel losing their job during the holidays and having no idea what the next year will hold. Hope everything works out for them, and everyone else who's been laid off this year for that matter.

  • medicalmj

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 2:15 pm GMT

    also i would imagine the problem isn't with the animator talking about getting paid. I think the problem is he gave out private information that there will be layoffs soon. I'm pretty sure you aren't allowed private information like layoffs until it's been made public.

  • medicalmj

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 11:44 am GMT

    @vegetamaelstrom

    I'm not a legal so I don't know how long a company has to pay you until it becomes a legal issue but either way I think the correct approach would be to contact a lawyer. Posting about it in a blog isn't the best approach.

    Either way it does suck for that animator. I think the lesson learned is in this day in age with lawsuits and lawyers you need to be very careful with what you say or do in public and if there is any doubt about something you should call a lawyer for some advice.

  • VegetaMaelstrom

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 11:26 am GMT

    Yeah the animator was probably breaching some non-disclosure agreement in his contract but wasn't Factor 5 in violation of that contract by not paying him in a timely manner for his work? Seems to me it was Factor 5 not acting in good faith that lead to the post being made in the first place.

  • medicalmj

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 10:50 am GMT

    oh but i do agree with others that i doubt the animator did it out of malice. But technically he did violate a contract he signed and he really should have known better. Hopefully nothing bad happens to him and he learns his lesson from this and can find an even better job down the road.

  • medicalmj

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 10:47 am GMT

    It's actually pretty common knowledge in the gaming industry that you aren't allowed to talk about private company information like that. Every company I've ever worked for in the industry I've had to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement and they always explain very clearly what it is.

    If this was a company listed on the stock market this guy would be in some serious legal trouble with the law as well and the company could get in trouble as well.

    On the outside it might look really wrong to threaten legal action against this animator but it is very clear and obvious did he did violate a legally binding contract he signed.

    Personally I don't think they will follow through with it. I'd imagine they are just saying that to get the message across to people that you it's illegal to publically share pirvate company information like that.

  • TTDog

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 10:21 am GMT

    After the mess that was Lair I'm suprised they were allowed to continue producing games.

  • division_9

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 8:55 am GMT

    The guy complains he doesnt get paid anymore and now they want to sue him for that?.

  • jmartin1016

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 8:26 am GMT

    I feel bad for the animator guy and factor 5. Lair wasn't great but the other games they made were pretty good.They shouldn't sue him. He was scared that he was gonna lose his job, they lied to him and said he wasn't, then fired him the next day. Nice work. Why don't they dig out his eye with a spoon while their at it.

  • ArkDral

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 7:44 am GMT

    It is always unforunate to hear about about people lossing their jobs, however I didn't expect Turbine to be hit. I've been hearing great things about LotRO.

  • LqdSnk

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 7:43 am GMT

    Really, Legal action against the animator? As if things weren't bad enough as it is. I doubt he posted what he did out of malice.

  • pencilpusher69

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 6:49 am GMT

    Hello, wake up call. The entire industry is in turmoil. EA is closing studios, and laying off employees.

    Why is it that so many of you who visit game sites for news don't seem to know this?

    HD development is killing these publishers and studios, as many predicted it would. And hang on to your horses, 'cause it's going to get worse.

  • da_chub

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 6:17 am GMT

    Big companies get bigger, and they kill off all the small ones. Is this good??? Doesnt matter, i think i'll go to walmart and pick up some games from EA.

  • LosDaddie

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 6:00 am GMT

    Lair was horrible anyway.

  • Cobra5

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 3:43 am GMT

    I don't actually think all of this news is what it seems.

    The big names are getting bigger, and the small names are dropping off like flies... unfortunately, I think that is simply the state of the business currently, with the Megapublishers like EA and Activision-Blizzard beginning to dominate the market.

  • flyingteddy

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 2:53 am GMT

    I thought games industry was bucking the trend, why are so many going down? is it poor management? bad games?

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 1:35 am GMT

    Man I feel bad for the employees and there christmas. I hope they pull through okay. God Bless them. God Bless everyone. This economy and Global Recession is horrible.

  • blackace

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 12:34 am GMT

    Well, it's not surprising the way the economy is right now. A lot of people are out of work. Hopefully it'll get better next year. What is Factor 5 working on now have the dismal LAIR?

  • stevenrkorea

    Posted Dec 17, 2008 12:09 am GMT

    I see some people saying that they should have waited until after Christmas to make the cut backs. Another way to look at it is there are probably going to be a lot more cut backs made with other companies in the near future, which saturates the talent pool, making it much harder to get another job. If the companies know that they are going to be making lay-offs, the sooner the better right now. Gives them a chance to get a new job before 150 more people get laid off and start looking for jobs as well.

    Just a thought.

  • Jedilink109

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 9:55 pm GMT

    Oh Bloodmist, by the way, I heard they're supposed to be taking all of the previous Rogue Squardon games and putting em onto a single disc, and releasing it on the Wii. It's not NEW stuff, but cool nonetheless.

  • Jedilink109

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 9:53 pm GMT

    Wow, that's wonderful. They can't wait until AFTER Christmas to fire people???? Not like that might put a damper on things around the holidays or anything......

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 9:46 pm GMT

    Turbine really is a parasite they havent put out a decent game and they are able to extend there life a little longer by leeching to a company that was having problems due to a recent bad game they released.

  • BloodMist

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 8:41 pm GMT

    Man, that sucks for Turbine, LotRO rules.Factor 5 could just make another Rogue Squadron game(and they really, really should), and they would be makin money in no time.

  • Hedfix

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 7:44 pm GMT

    sign a deal with Nintendo Factor 5, they've always been good to you.

  • PrinceofSarcasm

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 7:24 pm GMT

    why don't they have a heart and kick em after Christmas, like the 28.

  • StSk8ter29

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 6:41 pm GMT

    Doesn't look like Lotro will be affected, good thing too, because that game seems to be doing quite well for an MMO in this age.

  • chikahiro94

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 6:32 pm GMT

    I wonder which game Turbine laid off from. I'd be surprised if it was LOTRO - but if it was D&DO? That would make sense. Or even AC.

  • x-wing20

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 6:09 pm GMT

    I guess this means no rouge squadron sequal...

  • JRD1912

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 6:08 pm GMT

    That animator wasnt too smart to go posting crap like that. Bet he has trouble finding a job now.

  • jrabbit99

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 5:52 pm GMT

    It's always sad when there are layoffs.

  • joopyme

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 5:40 pm GMT

    awww...

  • GrimGravy

    Posted Dec 16, 2008 5:38 pm GMT

    ouch

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