Mythic layoffs dishonest

So I saw Scott’s post today on Mythic layoffs. I pointed out recently that Mythic might justify layoffs by stating that MMO development life cycles require staff to be let go as games ramp down and settle into a maintenance mode.  My prediction came true and Mythic’s official comment reads almost like the post I wrote over two weeks ago:

With respect to customer service, quality assurance and play testing, prior to the launch of WAR, we hired additional people to deal with the rush of demand associated with an MMO launch and to insure the best possible experience for our players. We accomplished that goal and as a result we had the smoothest-ever launch of a major MMO. Since the launch last year, the demand for customer service has gone down as players become more familiar with the game. Obviously, demand for a large QA and play-testing staff also falls after launch. As a result, we saw a staff reduction which is in line with the company-wide initiative.

I almost want to accuse Marc Jacobs, Mythic CEO, of plagiarism. But I’m tired of being glib. Layoffs have stopped being funny a long time ago.

One thing I’m pretty sure of though is that Mythic’s layoffs had very little to do game life cycles. If the layoffs are indeed the result of not needing the extra staff because the launch is finished, why didn’t the layoffs come sooner? It’s been months since Warhammer was released. That actually even seems like a sound business decision since you’d have less staff to pay for heading into your quarterly financial report.

No, the layoffs happened because parent company EA was not profitable enough. It’s disingenuous to say otherwise.

And EA seems to have no compunction of punishing divisions within its company that do well in the market place. They’ve even cut staff at EA Tiburon, the makers of Madden 09, which happened to be only the ninth best selling title of 2008.

I’m not sure if Marc Jacobs decided to sugar coat the layoffs himself or was forced to by his bosses. Either way, it’s a dick move and disrespectful to the people who worked for him.

Related posts:

1. “Rewarding” success at Mythic As reported here and here, it looks like the...
2. EA: bozo move of the year So what do you do when you’ve fired much...
3. EA: Bowl party > employees John Gaudiosi of GameCulture.com posted today about his experience...
4. Darkfall launch memorable The highly anticipated opening day for Darkfall provided for...
5. Verizon suckage It’s amazing how painful a company can make a...