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Guild Wars 2 Developer ArenaNet Plans For Mass Layoffs - Kotaku

Horns

Member
ArenaNet, the studio behind the popular online games Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, informed employees today that it is planning big layoffs, according to a person who is there. Although ArenaNet did not give out exact numbers, and they may not yet be finalized, rumors floating around the studio signal that a significant number of people will be let go.

Songyee Yoon, the CEO of Korean publisher NCSoft West, which owns ArenaNet, e-mailed employees this afternoon with the news. “Our live game business revenue is declining as our franchises age, delays in development on PC and mobile have created further drains against our revenue projects, while our operating costs in the west have increased,” she wrote. “Where we are is not sustainable, and is not going to set us up for future success.”

https://kotaku.com/guild-wars-2-developer-arenanet-plans-for-mass-layoffs-1832799804

Sad to hear about ArenaNet. Kotaku with another interesting scoop.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
Guild wars 2 was a great game, but it came out 7 years ago. Games don't last that long usually. I look forward to what comes next.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
Guild wars 2 was a fun game my thoughts go out to all the devs and their families.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
Eeeeh.

The exping part was excellent. End game was a clusterfuck.

Also I personally disliked the classes a lot.
I really liked all of it start to finish. That being said, I never got the last expansion and haven't played in several years. So, if things have changed, let me know.

The living world stuff was just too much fun. Loved it.
 

TeamGhobad

Banned
my prediction is that all those traditional mmos are going belly up. guild wars, eq2, lineage, eventually wow. their day in the sun has come and gone.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Sad, they definitely didn't fulfill the potential they showed with the first Guild Wars, they could have become an indie Blizzard :(
my prediction is that all those traditional mmos are going belly up. guild wars, eq2, lineage, eventually wow. their day in the sun has come and gone.
They weren't exactly traditional since they were neither f2p nor with subscriptions but rather buy once and play forever deals like any normal game, which then relied on semi-regular large expansions sold for profit to the fanbase to keep them going.

Or at least the first Guild Wars was like that, I didn't like how the sequel seemed so I never got it. It was pretty cool and novel at the time to use that payment model for an ambitious MMO-like (it wasn't quite MM given the districts separation but still).

The first Guild Wars also had a novel system where you had a set amount of skillslots and acquired many more skills than fit there so it was like building a deck with your available skills picking, choosing and matching what you thought fit the situation.
 
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I played GW2 a lot when it launched. Lost track of it over the years. Funny, I recently wondered how it was doing and thought about re-installing but I can't even remember my login or what email I used for it back then.

The game was largely a success, right?
 
Yeah GW2 was a pretty big success. The main earner for NCSoft in the West. I thought ANet was pretty safe from NCSoft pressure, so it's weird to hear they plan to merge into NCSoft.

Probably should wait on more information.
 
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Eventually robots will be playing robots in games developed by robots.

I think this is a deleted scene in Terminator: The Final Chapter Endgame Doomsday Finale
 

matheusnienow

Neo Member
Sad to hear that. Am I the only one with the feeling that gaming is going to a "dark" path? I don't know, most of the stuff I'm seeing are problems, micro transactions, devs being laid off, companies changing their course of actions. I'm not very excited about the gaming industry anymore.
 
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Xiaoki

Member
Yeah GW2 was a pretty big success. The main earner for NCSoft in the West. I thought ANet was pretty safe from NCSoft pressure, so it's weird to hear they plan to merge into NCSoft.

Probably should wait on more information.
What do you mean "merge into"?

NCsoft bought ArenaNet in 2002. They are a wholly owned subsidiary.

Also, this isn't really a surprise when you look at the financial reports.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I had a lvl 70 thief and stopped playing after about 2 months. Great to see the game lasted as long as it did. Hopefully those affected will land on their feet.
 
What do you mean "merge into"?

NCsoft bought ArenaNet in 2002. They are a wholly owned subsidiary.

Also, this isn't really a surprise when you look at the financial reports.

From the article, "Yoon added that the company plans to “cut costs across the organization” and restructure across the board, merging ArenaNet and NCSoft’s publishing divisions in the process. "

Path of Fire was published by ANet. The previous talk sounded like ANet was a bit more independent, but how so I couldn't say. It could be that as the only worthwhile western product, NCSoft thought ANet may be better suited to handle their own publishing. Either way, this seems to be a product of NCSoft's struggles and realignment towards mobile-heavy and monetization. ANet/GW2 doesn't fit that model.
 
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Xiaoki

Member
From the article, "Yoon added that the company plans to “cut costs across the organization” and restructure across the board, merging ArenaNet and NCSoft’s publishing divisions in the process. "

Path of Fire was published by ANet. The previous talk sounded like ANet was a bit more independent, but how so I couldn't say. It could be that as the only worthwhile western product, NCSoft thought ANet may be better suited to handle their own publishing. Either way, this seems to be a product of NCSoft's struggles and realignment towards mobile-heavy and monetization. ANet/GW2 doesn't fit that model.
Reading other articles, ArenaNet has 400 employees.

400?!

A developer that has 400 employees that makes one game that generates only $15 million in revenue a quarter is a recipe for disaster.

This has nothing to with whatever direction NCsoft is going in, ArenaNet isn't make enough money to justify that many employees.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
I never cared much for Guild Wars 2. Its quest design was repetitive and miserable, its story was forgettable, and the only good thing going for it was its art direction. Sad to see anyone lose their jobs unless they deserved it (Jessica Price), but hopefully they can bounce back and get new positions elsewhere.
 
If the direction NCSoft is going is mobile and cheap development, then a 400 employee company handling a MMO would not fit that and be part of their restructuring. You're rather agreeing with me. From overall reports, GW2 was profitable. Their last quarter was bad, but it was bad for most of NCSoft.

Though I would agree they must have had a lot of fat in that studio considering their output. Article also states they had unannounced projects going that got axed, which would lead to more fat in the payroll.
 

Zephir

Member
At least, they're cutting jobs because they do have economic troubles instead of record revenues...It doesn't make it slightly better though, I wish them the best

Now I kinda want to check GW2 again...left because there wasn't a proper healing class, but it was still pretty good regardless
 

Kadayi

Banned
Sad to hear of the job losses, but I have to imagine as others have said that MMOs are kind of done for the most part in terms of the draw for many people. Personally, I can't imagine putting in the hours in these days versus spending my gaming time tackling other fare.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Traditional MMOs are pretty much done for, barring some really strong existing IPs.

Hope people land on their feet.
 
Well it's important to remember that from what we know, GW2 is up there with ESO and FFXIV as the most succesful and profitable MMORPGs around. GW2 sold 8 million copies before it went Free 2 Play. I play the game every day, and the game is packed and packed with people. It feels as popular as ever. Cash shop skins, mounts and misc are featured on almost every character you see. Clearly GW2 is a massive success stil despite it being 6,5 years old.

We know that this is about NCsoft not doing good. NCSoft has lost a lot of ground in the last 10 years, and in the last couple of years they have not produced new games. Internally, ArenaNet had shifted people and talent away from GW2 to work on two unannounced titles (one being a mobile game). These are the titles that are being scrapped. As a GW2 player, it sounds like the studio will be 100% focused on GW2 alone. Their living world releases are substantial, and the community is hoping for a Cantha (East Asia mythology) expansion still. But while this focus on GW2 might be great for Guild Wars, ArenaNet not having anything in the pipeline is probably not good. For all we know, the canceled other project could have been Guild Wars 3 or a Console version of GW2. We don't know, but right now all of ArenaNets eggs remain in that basket.
What is shocking is the best people who've let go. They've let some of the most senior and talented people. We're talking about people who helped shape Guild Wars and many other MMOs who've borrowed from GW2s design.

No matter how you spin this, this is bad for ArenaNet. There are developers reaching out. Amazon game studios has been pulling talent from ArenaNet for years (on a now cancelled game) and Jeff Strains Undead Labs will also pick up employees.


WoodenPotatoes has more;

 
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