Layoffs :(

[Battlehelm043]

I think it's safe to say Civ 7 wont be getting substantial DLC any time soon.... While it sucks to be let go, with a flop this bad they gut everything below the belt. Although I am noticing a trend, most of the people they hired from around 2020 to present they cut. It would seem the creatives chosen to imitate Humankind are the ones they let go. I want to know who sold them on the idea of Humankind being something to emulate. especially when they saw what a dumpster fire that was. Hopefully those let go can find work in the future as for Firaxis let us pray they return to the old formula and their roots with the next Civ.

 

[itix]

I believe there is a substantial DLC underway and the remaining staff is assigned to work on it.

If it doesnt fly, I dont know. I am afraid 2k is going to claim "nobody wants 4X games anymore" and close Firaxis.

(Sorry if I sound grim but atm i cant help it.)

 

[Nikolai II]

I believe there is a substantial DLC underway and the remaining staff is assigned to work on it.

If it doesnt fly, I dont know. I am afraid 2k is going to claim "nobody wants 4X games anymore" and close Firaxis.

(Sorry if I sound grim but atm i cant help it.)

I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

 

[aieeegrunt]

I believe there is a substantial DLC underway and the remaining staff is assigned to work on it.

If it doesnt fly, I dont know. I am afraid 2k is going to claim "nobody wants 4X games anymore" and close Firaxis.

(Sorry if I sound grim but atm i cant help it.)

Someone will move into that niche with a CivLike

 

[tman2000]

I believe there is a substantial DLC underway and the remaining staff is assigned to work on it.

Civ 7 will "age-transition" and even though it won't be called Civ 7 anymore, it's still the same game.

 

[trev1972]

While I did not enjoy the game, it's really sad to hear of this, I really hope they find work soon

 

[zerokarma]

This likely indicates they are scaling back their DLC plans and from a business perspective trying to manage cash flow due to expected earnings not being realized.

The fact that no one higher up got canned likely means 2K is giving Ed Beach and other top key people time and a chance to fix things/right the ship but I imagine they are on a short leash.

If things don't rebound with Civ7 I think it's more likely that 2K forces change with new leadership. There is always the danger of the Sim City outcome but I kind of feel they would get another shot still.

 

[tman2000]

If things don't rebound with Civ7 I think it's more likely that 2K forces change with new leadership. There is always the danger of the Sim City outcome but I kind of feel they would get another shot still.

Just went through this with kerbal and I remember SimCity. Unless money has already been spent on "big expansion #1" and they're pushing out the absolute min viable product for that, then the game is effectively cancelled. They do it slowly and quietly to minimize backlash.

Probably won't see another Civ game for 10 years.

 

[King Flevance]

Like others, I also think DLCs are being postponed and 'restructure' patches are the route they plan to take over the next year. Similar to Conan, No Man's Sky, etc. You dont need an art team for that but programmers with the ability to modify the core game mechanics and maybe add in a small art asset here or there. If fine tuning the design turns reception around, then lean into DLC. But that will take a year at least. New civs and leader DLC is worthless on a game with a smaller audience.

 

[Kwami]

Like others, I also think DLCs are being postponed and 'restructure' patches are the route they plan to take over the next year. Similar to Conan, No Man's Sky, etc. You dont need an art team for that but programmers with the ability to modify the core game mechanics and maybe add in a small art asset here or there. If fine tuning the design turns reception around, then lean into DLC. But that will take a year at least. New civs and leader DLC is worthless on a game with a smaller audience.

If we follow the pattern from the last few games, then the first expansion usually doesn't come out for 12-18 months after the game is released, anyway. The individual civilization/leader DLCs are only sold in the first year after release.

Anyway, best of luck to everyone that was let go! It sucks to lose a job and it's even worse when it's a job that you like. I hope you all find new good jobs soon. And thanks for all of your contributions to the games that I love to play!

 

[Askia Muhammad]

I believe there is a substantial DLC underway and the remaining staff is assigned to work on it.

If it doesnt fly, I dont know. I am afraid 2k is going to claim "nobody wants 4X games anymore" and close Firaxis.

(Sorry if I sound grim but atm i cant help it.)

I agree that there is substantial DLC being worked on already. I also agree that the games continued support likely hinges upon the success/failure of that upcoming DLC.

What I don’t agree with - is that this title failing spells the end of the franchise. I think that’s a pretty alarmist and frankly, unrealistic take.

Irregardless of enjoyment or not, I think it’s fair to argue that 7 has mechanics that bring it pretty close to not even being a 4x. I’d call it a historically inspired strategy game. The core premise of a 4x is essentially what Civ 7 rails against - snowballing (not run away victories, but building upon your growth and continued progress). Age resets are pretty inherently anti-4x design.

 

[tman2000]

I agree that there is substantial DLC being worked on already. I also agree that the games continued support likely hinges upon the success/failure of that upcoming DLC.

What I don’t agree with - is that this title failing spells the end of the franchise. I think that’s a pretty alarmist and frankly, unrealistic take.

Irregardless of enjoyment or not, I think it’s fair to argue that 7 has mechanics that bring it pretty close to not even being a 4x. I’d call it a historically inspired strategy game. The core premise of a 4x is essentially what Civ 7 rails against - snowballing (not run away victories, but building upon your growth and continued progress). Age resets are pretty inherently anti-4x design.

I once realized there was a way to think of Civ 7 as a two-age game, where the first age you play is explore and exploit (i.e.: become oriented and claim your territory) and the second age is expand and exterminate (cash in on what you claimed). A third age will always be redundant. But I did have some fun starting in exploration and continuing through modern.

You could use a four-age structure. If antiquity is just about exploring, then you have hard limits on city size and settlement limits. "Medieval" would then let you jab elbows to firm up borders, perhaps with other systems that establish your "place" in the game, if religion for instance harmonized better with biomes and resources, maybe unique circumstances. Exploration/Colonization would allow you to fuel expansion using your core empire as an engine, and then Modern would basically just be World War II with ways to win asymmetrical to war but in parallel with it.

Rather than interrupt and restart the 4X, you could put limits on each age so that you're engage in one major activity. Of course this means no large antiquity wars, and so forth. Still, exploring with scouts and settling, building trade, discovering other players and wonders might be fun enough for a fulfilling antiquity that is not reset on the age-transition, which then introduces new ways to commit to a strategy to exploit resources and territory.

 

[Disgustipated]

When the game has bad mechanics I blame the man who made them.

I can't fault that logic. I really did like all his ideas for Civ 6. He did such a good job with that game. I'm not sure what went wrong with this one. He may have had pressure from various other sources. Personally I wouldn't fire him, but he would never be put in charge of a game again.

 

[Civinator]

You could use a four-age structure. If antiquity is just about exploring, then you have hard limits on city size and settlement limits. "Medieval" would then let you jab elbows to firm up borders, perhaps with other systems that establish your "place" in the game, if religion for instance harmonized better with biomes and resources, maybe unique circumstances. Exploration/Colonization would allow you to fuel expansion using your core empire as an engine, and then Modern would basically just be World War II with ways to win asymmetrical to war but in parallel with it.

You are describing very exactly Civ 3.

 

[Monene]

Rather than interrupt and restart the 4X, you could put limits on each age so that you're engage in one major activity.

This function is fulfilled by different technologies and civic principles.

 

[aieeegrunt]

I can't fault that logic. I really did like all his ideas for Civ 6. He did such a good job with that game. I'm not sure what went wrong with this one. He may have had pressure from various other sources. Personally I wouldn't fire him, but he would never be put in charge of a game again.

Stop making excuses. He made the exact game he set out to make, “history is built in layers”

The only injustice here is that if these layoffs are indeed due to Civ7’s poor performance, that the layoffs hit the poor sods in the trenches instead of the guy who led them to disaster.

That’s if the layoffs were because the game failed.

 

[Disgustipated]

Regardless, artists aren't needed if development on the game is finished. And writers even more so.

 

[Core Imposter]

The US economy is starting to sputter so that might be a factor. Like it or not folks are going to be trying to produce with fewer people by integrating AI. Layoffs happen for lots of reasons. The sparks fly upward.

 

[MutilationWave]

I will draw something for you and it will rock your world. And not in a good way

I wanna see it. Taking requests?

No, but probably the end of the XCOM series or any other non-Civ games Firaxis would have otherwise been planning for the time being.

I hope you're wrong but I bet you're right. I love both XCOM games from Firaxis. I have only played vanilla, got any mod suggestions?

As far as the layoffs, it sucks. Not a good sign.

 

[reddishrecue]

As my first post after 7 pages, I finally had the chance to say something since I've been busy.
Its sad to let people go but there's people that want to go into Firaxis and any major company that makes games. It would really be a decent job to have. I also could say that I sort of saw it coming. Since sales of Civilization 7 weren't that high, for economic reasons this happens.