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America's Army Dev Studio Closes Doors
by Kris Graft
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June 19, 2009
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The U.S. Army has closed down the Emeryville, Calif. development studio responsible for the game/Army recruitment tool America's Army, according to a report from gaming website Shacknews.
The closure comes just after the release of PC-based first person shooter and recruitment tool America's Army 3, which launched earlier this week.
A representative for America's Army said in a statement, "This consolidation will allow us to gain efficiencies between our public and government applications."
Despite the closure, the America's Army series will continue. "We appreciate all the hard work that every member of the America's Army team has contributed to the project, and we look forward to delivering future America's Army game releases in the months ahead."
Future development of the PC series will shift over to the program office in Redstone, Ala., the report said. The number of workers affected by the closure is currently unknown.
The America's Army series originally launched on PC in 2002 as a free download, which the U.S. Army freely admits it uses as a recruitment tool for the military.
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I think all the game production people will find jobs easily... the others, should find non-game work easy enough.
I talk all about this in my blog!
http://aboutmakinggames.blogspot.com/
Mac
There is also the social issue. Emeryville is right next to Berkeley, which has had a lot of protest activity and other impediments directed against military recruiting offices, ROTC programs, etc. These impediments are fully backed up by the Berkeley "city fathers". Speculation: the Army probably doesn't feel particularly welcome, and in a situation like that and given a cheaper alternative, it's probably a factor in making the decision.
The real victims here are, of course, the game's Emeryville developers. Here's hoping they land a gig where they are welcomed.
Mac
http://aboutmakinggames.blogspot.com/
It always burns to think of people killing themselves to get a product out the door, and then to be "rewarded" with a pink slip - that's the risk you take in the games biz, especially these days. Hopefully 2010 will be better for everyone - good luck guys!
I say, f*ck the Army. The guys in charge(not the dev team) didn't care about the development team anyways. There are plenty of better studios out there. It's all about "quality of life" over just getting any job, regardless of jobs being scarce.
If a studio had made a game this horrible, I really can't say I'm surprised it was closed. The army isn't one to allow overruns on deadlines and the like, and it seems they just didn't have what it took to get the job done. Fortunately, patches are coming fast and furiously, and seem to be fixing the major issues for now. Remains to be seen how it performs in the future.