Lionhead has confirmed with Gamasutra that "a small number" of employees at the studio have been made redundant today, following the completion of Fable: The Journey.
The official statement notes that the studio has begun work on a number of new projects and that, "As is common in the games industry, a smaller headcount is needed as projects kick-off and ramp up as full-production gets underway."
The company says that it is working with those affected to find new jobs for them, including alternative opportunities at parent company Microsoft, and other Microsoft Studios outfits, including Rare and Soho Productions.
Microsoft was also keen to stress that it plans to add over 100 new staff to Microsoft Studios in the UK over the course of the next year.
This year has seen various ex-Lionhead staffers forming new studios in the UK, including Kung Fu Superstar dev Kinesthetic Games, Fable creators Dene and Simon Carter at Another Place Productions, and of course, Bullfrog and Lionhead Studios co-founder Peter Molyneux.
Isn't this all par for the course these days with most studios? I thought is was. Good luck on finding jobs too all those that lost them. I am sure that they will have no problem as they have Fable on their resumes.
"As is common in the games industry, a smaller headcount is needed as projects kick-off and ramp up as full-production gets underway."
Its funny because over here, we call that bad management of human ressources.
If you dont intend to keep someone after a project, be clear about it and hire him as a fixed-time contract. If its that the person doesnt fit or isnt doing the job, you should fire that person as soon as you realize it.
It may be common to have waves of layoffs at the end of a project, but it is certainly not normal or a good practice.
That's exactly what I thought while reading the article. Especially when they said that they fire the people THEN help them find a new job in another part of THE SAME GROUP that his currently hiring. But eh, I guess Microsoft has plenty of money to throw away.
Its funny because over here, we call that bad management of human ressources.
If you dont intend to keep someone after a project, be clear about it and hire him as a fixed-time contract. If its that the person doesnt fit or isnt doing the job, you should fire that person as soon as you realize it.
It may be common to have waves of layoffs at the end of a project, but it is certainly not normal or a good practice.
Maybe there were good reasons, maybe there weren't, but either way it sucks for the people who just lost their jobs.