Layoffs :(

[AD1730]

As opposed to the publisher? That defeniately pressured Firaxis to rush the release?

Numerous problems with Civ 7 are not due to time pressure, but instead poor decision-making. They could have had years more of development and civ switching and ages would have landed just as poorly. That’s not on the publisher for rushing Firaxis. That’s on those who chose to implement those mechanics.

 

[Uberfrog]

Best of luck to all those affected. There’s truly some first-class work in Civ 7, especially in the animation and art departments. You’re very talented people!

 

[Kumbao]

Hearts out for the devs at Firaxis today. Layoffs is happening.

https://bsky.app/profile/lightningfused.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3lxzhoahbfc2h

https://bsky.app/profile/emmakidwell.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3lxzgvwuq6k2r

Please let this thread be in consideration of those affected and be constructive.

Emma Kidwell really surprises me. Say what you want about the characters in Midnight Suns, but her work on Deadpool and Storm was actually quite good. I hope that everybody will find a new employer soon.

 

[vorlon_mi]

Sorry to hear this! Sending good vibes and best wishes to those affected. Thanks for the good work!

 

[itix]

Most of those people didn't list the games they worked on. Those who did, listed Midnight Suns in addition to Civ7 (I believe one person listed Civ7 only and one MS only). Not sure how much Civ7 is affected, it's not the only Firaxis project.

P.S. I've just realized that MS commercial failure could be a strong factor behind Civ7 rushed release.

Seems many were hired to work on Midnight Suns or Civ 7.

In fact, when checking the credits page on MobyGames, I could not find that many devs who worked on both Civ6 and Civ7.

 

[bbbt]

I don't actually know how much these layoffs are related to poor Civ 7 sales. To me it more feels like there was another game in development that either got cancelled or delayed/revamped.

Art usually takes less time than the engine/game development. Back in the day, it was actually common for art talent to potentially just be hired near the end of development and laid off after launch. DLC/content DLC is one of the main things that started keeping them employed more full-time while engine devs worked. Ie think of the leader pass for Civ 6 (all art talent while Civ 7 engine changes were under way).

It could just be that Civ 7's reception has pushed out the timeline for the next set of potential leader/civ DLC. But again it more feels like a potentially project X that they were planning staff for and have realized it won't be ready in time/will never be ready.

 

[WillK96]

Seeing as the layoffs don't appear to be impacting core implementation team (beyond one programmer, although obviously we don't have full information on who was laid off yet) but focus on artistic staff, my guess is Civ 7 is primarily affected in its long-term DLC outlook as I mentioned earlier in the thread (don't need as many artists if you don't intend to produce as many art-heavy DLC like Civ and leader expansions). I don't think this precludes Firaxis still releasing the core big expansions to add functionality to the game (post-modern 4th age, expanding religious gameplay, reworking or expanding city states, expansion of mechanics related to diplomacy and possibly reintroducing the World Congress, etc) seeing as most of the programming staff are still aboard.

It is also possible that Firaxis has completed the majority of or made significant progress on the writing and art of the DLC civs at this point and they simply did not need as many artists/writers hanging around to polish it up prior to release.

 

[nakzox]

Honestly, considering this is two flop games in a row for Firaxis (Midnight Suns -- good game from what I hear, at least, but had poor sales and now Civ VII, bad reviews, although good initial sales) I'm a little surprised it's not more senior/top-level execs.

 

[Siptah]

Honestly, considering this is two flop games in a row for Firaxis (Midnight Suns -- good game from what I hear, at least, poor sales and now Civ VII, bad reviews, although good initial sales) I'm a little surprised it's not more senior/top-level execs.

would execs post that on social media? Wouldn‘t you rather contact some headhunters that contacted you in the past years?

 

[itix]

On Reddit, someone claims around 70 were laid off. That is quite a big chunk...

 

[Leucarum]

Midnight Suns -- good game from what I hear, at least,

Midnight Suns was a very good game but I am not really sure it knew what its audience was. It feels to me like it was let down by being marketed to the wrong groups. Either way, anyone who worked on it should be proud.

Unless they came up with the whole Blade and Captain Marvel's book club subplot. That was just strange.

 

[j51]

On Reddit, someone claims around 70 were laid off. That is quite a big chunk...

I’ve been reading the Reddit stuff but didn’t see that. Wow! I thought it was like 30. And wouldn’t there have been a WARN notice if it’s more than like 50 people? (That’s a 60 days warning that company is laying people off in the States for members in other countries.)

 

[Verified_Confection_Being]

70 employees is about 1/3 to 1/4 of Firaxis

 

[moondog385]

Really unfortunate when passionate artists are affected because of corporate greed. I hope they land on their feet.

 

[Ornen]

note that 2K timed these layoffs to avoid bad press... (letting them go on same day as a major VG release)

 

[tedhebert]

I wonder if it's mainly based on seniority that they chose most of the people laid off... If so, I'm a little concerned for our friend @sukritact !

Well wishes to all those who got the bad news today, and good luck on finding another spot !

 

[Menocchio]

Strange and sad to see a lot of 3D artists and writers going. Firaxis seemed with VII's initial release to have a more narrative-heavy design focus, which is one of its strengths, and one let down by the certainly less well-implemented Ages system. From the latest updates as well my guess would be that the game is headed in a more conservative direction, leaning toward what they assume worked for Civ VI. Understandable, probably not the ideal direction from what I see, but ultimately the biggest loss for these folks.

 

[VGT]

I wonder if it's mainly based on seniority that they chose most of the people laid off

Most people I found and linked their messages in my previous post were working there 2-3 years which is not unusual in this industry to switch workplace every couple years. But I found at least two affected people that were working at Firaxis for over a decade ( Louis and Bryan ) so it also affects veterans

 

[bladex1200]

As opposed to the publisher? That defeniately pressured Firaxis to rush the release?

This isn't really the place for this discussion overall, but many people's issues with the game have nothing to do with the release itself being rushed, they're deep-set design decisions that would need player feedback to change, and would be likely not to change just with internal testing:

• the UX/UI readability issues were not a matter of missing assets, the art assets look stellar. The UI flow is just not very intuitive (e.g. people not understanding how army deployment works) and the city appearance simply blends into a mess because of the art style. Those are issues that aren't a matter of rushing the development, unless additional development time would've led to the UX being redone (seems unlikely as the UX/UI appears polished, even if not functional, for release)
• "Classic" mode checkbox was added due to player complaints about age transitions behaviors (deleting units/resetting army locations, regressing cities into towns, etc), the age transitions were touted as a core feature of the game and no classic mode would have been added for a delayed launch as that would be antithesis to the game's design
• Complaints about lacking "logical" civ transitions or desired leaders on-launch would have not been changed at all by a delayed release, since this would have disrupted the DLC model of the game and thus future monetization/profitability

There's no doubt the game was rushed and that's why bugs and basic features like auto-scout are missing. But that's not the core of what makes the game so unfun to many people (at least on this forum). That core is the game's design, which Ed Beach is responsible for as the Creative Director. Thus, bringing him up as someone who maybe should have suffered a layoff or reprimand when the company is laying off so many workers who did accomplish what was asked of them, with quality, is totally fair and not necessarily targeting him unfairly.

Nobody hates corporations more than me (well, maybe some do, but I hate them quite a bit), but I think pinning Civ7's failure on just 2K rushing it is doing the game's overall quality a bit too much service.

 

[Verified_Confection_Being]

If Ed Beach didn't believe in the direction of the game he should have resigned. That he hasn't resigned and he's seen it through means he stands by it, and is responsible for it.

End of the day, even with shorter timeframes, you should still have your priorities in order to release something smaller but polished.