Sign on Options
Theme: [Light Selected] To Dark»

Layoffs at Guild Wars 2 publisher

NCsoft's realignment of internal publishing resources affects "several" full-time and contract positions at Seattle headquarters.

Guild Wars 2 publisher NCsoft has enacted a round of layoffs at its Seattle, Washington, headquarters following a realignment of internal publishing resources. Public relations director Lincoln Davis confirmed the news to PC Gamer.

"NCsoft is realigning internal publishing resources to better suit the needs of our game development studios," Davis said. "As a result of the realignment, several employees and contract positions were affected. This was a very tough decision to make and wish the best for all NCsoft employees in their next ventures."

It is not clear if the layoffs at NCsoft's Seattle office will have any effect on ongoing support and development of Guild Wars 2 or any of the company's other products and services.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

88 comments
LiveSpartan532
LiveSpartan532 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Such a misleading titles wanted the page hits that badly didn't ya?

DeViLzzz
DeViLzzz

Please fire the guy who worked on the camera for this game.  I haven't played it because of the crappy thing.  I will not buy the game til it is fixed.

aovannor
aovannor like.author.displayName 1 Like

This article is misleading and it pisses me off.

 

The layoffs have nothing to do with Arenanet and Guild Wars 2.. yet you've put GW2 in the title. The layoffs are tied to the closure of City of Heroes and the (un)success of TERA. The GW2 team has been increased in size.

 

Should be ashamed of yourselves. I don't care that you put your little disclaimer at the end.. you've blatently tried to encourage more hits by making people think GW2 is in trouble.

Zerabp
Zerabp

 @aovannor TERA isn't an NCsoft game. Other than that you are right.

aovannor
aovannor

 @Zerabp

 Sorry, I meant Aion

aovannor
aovannor like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @Zerabp

Let's face it, with GW2 now and Wildstar on the way, NCSoft are doing right by reducing the focus of their older games. They'd be stupid not to from a business point of view.

Zerabp
Zerabp

 @aovannor I loved Aion until it went F2P but yeah despite loving it, it was a total failure and definitely didn't help them out financially stateside. What was funny is the moment they mentioned the Seattle office I knew Aion's failure was involved which was too badd as it was NC Korea who screwed the pooch with it.

WolfGrey
WolfGrey

Contract positions.Ya know...contracts...probably expired a while after the game launched.

 

Hell it is most likely a good part of the studio that worked on it before launch that are heading out. This happens typically with most mmos anyway.

bongsyas_23
bongsyas_23 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

hope they find jobs right away

msfan1289
msfan1289

and let me guess in January for some reason those same people who got laid off will be back working for them in 2013.

Deathfish69165
Deathfish69165 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 9 Like

Totally misleading.  Almost own right lying for the attention of the readers...

 

 

 

 

That title is totally misleading and even developer's of Guild Wars 2 have commented on this stating: "While we are indeed a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation (read NCsoft HQ), we are also our own entity. ArenaNet has not been affected by the NCwest realignment. And indeed, we are hiring: http://www.arena.net/jobs/"

 

Source: https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/gw2/Laying-off-workers/first#content

 

 

SolidTy
SolidTy like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

Wow, more lay offs today. Bad day for those affected. Good luck out there.

DaNakedTruth
DaNakedTruth like.author.displayName 1 Like

NC Soft, the publisher, laid people off. Not Arena Net, the company that develops and maintain the GW2 game. Article can be a tad misleading to some. Title probably should have been, "Layoffs at NC Soft, publisher of GW2".

jazilla
jazilla like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

 @DaNakedTruth you should have written the news piece as you described what happened far more concisely that the writer. What happened to concise news?

Aydenuille
Aydenuille

I'd consider this a good thing. I'm not a fan of MMO's, but I played Guild Wars II anyway because it can be played solo all the way through. Same goes for SW:TOR imo.

 

Really really hope developers take a hint and lay off the MP segment of any game they make.

Poodger
Poodger

 @Aydenuille Meh, I really like GW2, but I would have lost interest a while ago if there wasn't a huge online component to it. Makes advancement feel important and not trivial. I can never muster up the energy to play Skyrim because progression doesn't matter in an empty world filled with only NPCs.

emperiox
emperiox like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

GW2 wasn't even a Guild Wars sequel. I'm sorry, but Guild Wars had an emphasis on the story, whereas GW2 is all about exploration. GW2 is a joke, and all Anet did was use a brand name to paste onto a mediocre piece of garbage. There is absolutely no resemblance between GW1 + GW2.

AlmaDanny
AlmaDanny like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @emperiox GW2 is a big step up from GW1 for Anet. It's a good game. Although a lot of Dungeons in GW2 are just crap. But I also think that there is no resemblance between GW1 and GW2, except for recycled music.

decoy1978
decoy1978 like.author.displayName 1 Like

GW2 is only fun for 2 - 3 weeks tops. I'm glad all I did was buy the game once, because there just wasn't enough interest for me to keep on playing after one month. I'd be FFXIV pissed if I had to pay monthly. But for one price no strings attached, the game did its job for a month. Never touched it again....

Homeless-_-
Homeless-_-

 @decoy1978 Yeah, agree with this if it had a sub it would be free to play in no time. I hardly have the incentive to log on anymore. It was okay for a month.

Poodger
Poodger like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @decoy1978 Maybe for you. Me, nor anyone I have met outside of rabid online forums (aka the real world) have had anything bad to say about the game, and alot of people I kn ow still play it frequently, including me. But you must have a very short attention fan. I do not suggest other games in this genre if you couldn't handle this one.

Centurion95
Centurion95 like.author.displayName 1 Like

Ouch, this is just not the best time to be an MMO maker. Also anyone else see a recurring timeline here? First you have major hype machine for months before release. Then you have release and amazing opening day success and overall good reviews. Then about two months in the population starts to flat line followed by various world events trying to fight that. Then comes people getting fired and brutal fanboy/hater wars on the forums over why BLAH game is in its current state? I swear the same thing happend to SWTOR and now GW2... I would be checking retirement funds if I was working on the Elder Scrolls Online right now...

The_Last_Paladi
The_Last_Paladi

 @Centurion95 Um, yeah Arena Net isn't laying off anyone. GW2 is doing really good right now.  I don't blame you though, this article was VERY misleading...the guy who writes this tend to make misleading articles like this all the time.

JohnF111
JohnF111 like.author.displayName 1 Like

And no doubt that all the higher ups still kept their job.

ggregd
ggregd like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

Que all the jaded MMO players saying this is because GW2 has "no end game" or whatever, even though it has nothing directly to do with GW2.

Poodger
Poodger like.author.displayName 1 Like

This news is not connected to GW2 in any way, just the publisher's other games. The game is still running strong with a high population of people, new content is released often and then game is an absolute pleasure to play. Prepare to enjoy this awesome game for many years to come. Haters gonna hate though.

ggregd
ggregd like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 6 Like

 @Poodger I've found that MMO players are the most vocal with their complaints of any group of gamers, and yet it's without any basis in reality.  The MMORPG.com community is the most critical, cynical, negative and nasty group of posters on any gaming website.  In general, I've learned to take what MMO players say online with a block of salt because it's almost never bourne out what happens in the games.

ghostXzero
ghostXzero like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

guild wars 2 was and still is a buggy mess.  it's really not ready for final release.  crashes, bad performance, bugs up the wazoo, grindy end game, etc.  some heads had to roll.  they need to find and hire people that are actually competent to fix that mess.

nameaprice
nameaprice like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @ghostXzero I've never run into any of these so called "bugs" so maybe its time to upgrade your crappy PC?

boxterduke
boxterduke

 @ghostXzero You really have no idea what are you talking about do you?

 

NCSoft is a publisher. Anet is the company that coded the game. If there was layoffs at Anet then whatever you said would apply.

 

NCSoft has no programmers at Anet.

ggregd
ggregd like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @ghostXzero ArenaNet is responsible for coding and maintaining the game and the servers, not NCSoft, they're just the publisher.  Plus you're really exaggerating. 

Poodger
Poodger like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

 @ghostXzero Actually, you are quite wrong. I run into very few bugs while playing, have never crashed or lagged while running on the highest settings), and have not yet had to grind.

 

Find relevant complaints next time kiddo

AlmaDanny
AlmaDanny like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @Poodger  @ghostXzero ah actually he is right. GW2 is one of the most buggy game i've ever played on PC. Poor coding is obvious everywhere. I missed my reward tokens  after completing dungeons several times. Trading Post bugs are annoying as hell. I could point out more problems but the game can be still fun. Anet should hire more experienced coding guys in my opinion.

AlmaDanny
AlmaDanny like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @HailHellfire  @Poodger  @ghostXzero Oh please I like the game too. The least buggy MMO? Obviously this is your first MMO.  Been playing MMOs for nearly 6 yrs dude. Btw I'm playing on Quard core CPU with HD7770 GPU. This is not frame rate issues I"m talking about. Broken events, Personal story bugs, missing out on Dungeon reward toekns. Go to LA and listen to ppl complaining about TP window bugs. You might also want to go to Guild wars 2 forum and do some reading there. Bugs report everywhere.

LGADO
LGADO like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @Poodger  @AlmaDanny  @ghostXzero 

 

Not sure why you must defend the game so... disingenuously... at release the second half of the game only worked half the time. And it it's only mildly better now.

 

For goodness sake - for months anyone who wanted to complete the Temple of Balthazar (a major dynamic event which is a big part of it's zone and the story, needed for exotic karma armors and Legendary ingredients) has had to hop servers until they find one in which the NPCs are not bugged and unresponsive - these are neither minor, or ignorable bugs - Anet's NPC coding is incredibly shaky and breaks at the drop of a hat, anyone trying to participate in the Lost Shores event 2nd day knows it! The whole of Orr is like this!

 

They need to pull finger and re-write their trashy, broken code - games released with bugs is normal, this game is in terrible shape - the Orrian ghost-town is demonstrative of that.

HailHellfire
HailHellfire

 @AlmaDanny  @Poodger  @ghostXzero 

lol!

ive never ran into any bugs with this game...

if there are bugs, they are minor...

my guess is, you might want to get a new rig...

this is the least buggy MMO that ive ever played...

Poodger
Poodger like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @AlmaDanny  @ghostXzero I have yet to experience ANY of those problems. I almost never run into bugs, and the FEW that I have seen are so incredibly minor and ignorable.

ggregd
ggregd like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 3 Like

 @Poodger  @ghostXzero Exactly what I'm talking about above.  Every small issue is blown up into a giant problem.  As if every game doesn't have bugs, especially at launch.

pathosfire
pathosfire like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

Imagine that, NCSoft, which just fired the entire City of Heroes staff immediately is laying off people again.

Kmangamer
Kmangamer like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

That sucks. I feel for all those who lost their job. Not a fun place to be in...

Conversation powered by Livefyre

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!