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Layoffs at Lord of the Rings Online and Infinite Crisis developer

An undisclosed amount of people lose their jobs at Turbine.

By Martin Gaston on February 13, 2014 at 3:50AM PST

21 Comments

Warner Bros. has announced a round of job cuts at US studio Turbine, the developers in charge of MMO The Lord of the Rings Online and the upcoming MOBA Infinite Crisis.

An undisclosed amount of people were let go from the studio, which Warner Bros. acquired back in 2010.

"As part of our normal business process, we’re routinely looking at the strategic alignment of our company," confirmed Warner Bros. in a statement to Gamasutra. "Unfortunately, in order for us to invest in growth areas at Turbine, we have to eliminate some positions."

"These are always tough decisions, which we don’t approach lightly, but it’s crucial that Turbine is structured in a way that reflects the current and coming marketplace."

Turbine was founded in 1994 and has also previously worked on the Asheron's Call series and Dungeons & Dragons Online.

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Sl4cka

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Sl4cka

<< LINK REMOVED >> My God, he's right!!

Upvote • 10 years ago

MeineHackfresse

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MeineHackfresse

Here's the list:

<< LINK REMOVED >>

Upvote • 10 years ago

enoslives7

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enoslives7

'' YOU SHALL NOT PASS out pink slips!''

Upvote • 10 years ago

Pheonix985

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Pheonix985

You know, I always wanted to work for a video game company, but seeing as how layoffs come so frequently, I believe I've changed my mind. I have never seen an industry so volatile.

Upvote • 10 years ago

pupp3t_mast3r

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pupp3t_mast3r

<< LINK REMOVED >> Basically jobs swell during the development stages of games and then we see announcements about layoffs once the games have launched completely. This is especially true of online only games.

Upvote • 10 years ago

NoHyperbolePlz

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NoHyperbolePlz

"we have to eliminate some positions"...

What are you, the mob or something.

Upvote • 10 years ago

focuspuller

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focuspuller

<< LINK REMOVED >> That kind of language is what we in the working world call normal.

Upvote • 10 years ago

NoHyperbolePlz

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NoHyperbolePlz

@focuspuller @NoHyperbolePlz

Sure it is, if your PR firm write it down for you... and watched Godfather the night before. Your level of condescension makes you sound like a right prat. Assuming I'm unemployed or just acting like it to sound superior in your delivery of a reply, either way, a right prat.

Upvote • 10 years ago

Falconoffury

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Falconoffury

Turbine's greatest accomplishment was Asheron's Call. Such a legendary game. I hear they dumbed down Lord of the Rings Online. What a disappointment for such a once great studio.

Upvote • 10 years ago

poromenos

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poromenos

A theme park MMO and another Dota clone, all based on popular franchises, it seems the average customer is not as dumb as they wish.

Upvote • 10 years ago

Karlinel

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Karlinel

So many damn MMOs! Didn't the market implode 3 years ago? why are publishers still wasting money there?

Elaborating a bit, if even the kings of F2P (LOTRO is arguably the best there is at that) can't keep it profitable enough, WHY does everybody think they will be the next WoW?

Upvote • 10 years ago

ExtremePhobia

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ExtremePhobia

Too bad. AC was such a great game (still is). Let them make an AC3. I would gladly pay turbine for a subscription based AC3. I'd even... *grimace*... go free to play.

Upvote • 10 years ago

PlaystationZone

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PlaystationZone

see this why what will happen make mmo games it go to show mmo games don't work .

Upvote • 10 years ago

Adawf

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Adawf

<< LINK REMOVED >> gosh you are so right, just look at warcraft, only a measly 7 mil paid subs for a 10 year old game. solid proof mmo's don't work. /d'oh

Upvote • 10 years ago

pupp3t_mast3r

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pupp3t_mast3r

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Lets also completely forget about SWTOR and Guild Wars 2?

Upvote • 10 years ago

Neuronyx1987

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Neuronyx1987

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> You seem to be under the false impression that an MMO has to make WoW's kind of money to be successful.

Upvote • 9 years ago