Riiiiggghhhhttttt hiring managers!??!! Amazing at what???

I think that was a major issue on that project. Actually one of many reason the project couldn't do more that 5 single player campaigns. Why on earth would anyone want to hire managers that couldn't effectively manage their way into AAA hit title.



It wasn't the hit THQ was making it out to be despite of marketing overspending that was done to influence sales either.



This is my confession of an errant designer

So because the games did not live up to expectations (which were exceptionally high), every individual developer should just give up and never make games again? Do you think the successful companies are always successful? Do you believe talented developers would never work on something that wasn't a complete blow-out success?



And what is the measure of that success? 5 million sales? 10 million? Why should a developer even bother trying to work unless they are absolutely certain their game will exceed all expectations?

You worked at Kaos... You are only asking indirectly to get hired.



Hiring managers hire those that have nice portfolios.

Yup, left about a year ago and am happily employed, Mauricio. Thanks for your concern.



Just because the studio didn't work out doesn't mean there weren't an amazing group of individuals working there. THQ spent a ton of money to attract top talent to the area, and the developers at the studio reflect that investment. The studio itself didn't work out, but that doesn't mean that there weren't great people brought in to work on Frontlines and Homefront.



Guys, remember that you're talking about peoples lives and livelihoods. How about a little respect and empathy?

Yeah there was a lot of talented people that where attracted to work there; your right about that.

Unfortunately for you and many others that were trapped there,..all that talent left because they wouldn't put up with the BS management was invoking on that talented team of developers. If the management was so good and talented, why on earth did KAOS crunch so hard to spit out turd? Why the mass press about it either. Every studio crunch to some degree but why the BMW about it if it wasn't for poor management and leadership? Isn't that part of good management; staying on schedule and making sure the expectations of a hit title is being exemplified?



A lot of talented individuals left that production for a real good reason!!!



Mauricio is right "Hiring managers hire those that have nice portfolios."

and I'll go further in saying "hiring them for that valuable experience."



If management was so awesome why did it take several other studios to work on that same title? Why did Kaos ship with only 5 single player campaigns? That's a bit ridiculous don't you think? If I'm funding a developer I would want to make sure we hire good experience management and most importantly,...talented developers to craft that experience.

Joe, you are just plain wrong on so many things.



If you believe that every talented person that stayed at Kaos through Homefront development, or stayed until closure were trapped, that's just plain insulting. Many of us loved the studio and were completely invested in the product and the New York gaming community. Many of us have no intention of leaving NY with or without a AAA studio. And of those that left, do you know them? Do you know why they left? I do. And I know each one of their stories.



A short SP is becoming more and more common as the bar is raised for better graphics, physics, and animation. The consoles haven't improved in the last 5 years and we're still innovating ways to use these consoles. Go out and play Portal 2 or Black Ops and time your SP campaign.



Crunch has unfortunately become a part of AAA game development. Take Two, Treyarch, EA, and Kaos have all had very public crunches. Nearly every studio has gotten in the habit of doing it. We can discuss it academically about how crunch relates to bad management, but the reality of the business is that you are in direct competition with other teams of similar size and talent pools. If they are willing to crunch, they are going to get more features on the back of the box. When money talks, dev's start working weekends. It has become a nuclear arms race between studios and signs are that things will only get worse before they get better.



Go out and become a funding manager. Really take that on. Find your talent pool. Find experienced management. Craft that experience. See what happens.

Joe, I think you misunderstood what corey said. He said "hiring managers, there are good people from Kaos available".



He was not saying that anyone should HIRE THE MANAGERS from Kaos, he was speaking to the managers (AT OTHER STUDIOS) responsible for hiring people.



Meaning the "hiring manager (A job title)" at irrational (for example), should consider hiring the workers from Kaos.



In any case, good luck to everyone from Kaos.

That's exactly what I was saying. Thanks for the clarification Peter.

I actually just got Homefront through Gamefly. Haven't finished it yet, but so far so good. Feels like a Half-Life 2 meets Modern Warfare.



That said....



The plot is pretty silly. I've yet to find a game where the studio does a believable invasion of the USA. Japan caves in. No threat from China. Europe is on the sidelines, and so are Mexico and Canada? Who's feeding the global economy with American gone. Homefront is interesting if you don't pay attention to detail. :)



Gameplay wise it feels like any other shooter. For being set in the future there could have been some neat gadgets or inventions. Instead it's run n' gun with a helicopter segment (just like Bad Company, Black Ops, MoH).



Overall the game is decent, but in an ocean of shooters it fails to set itself apart.

I an age of greed they forgot how to make the games fun to pay.. err.. I mean 'play'.

You hit it right on the nose. Where's Danny Bilson now?



Maybe we should have another concert for the resistance. Maybe that concert wasn't loud enough to rake in sales to payoff his marketing mess.

When ATVI laid a few of us off several years ago, the HR person at the studio told me I could re-apply to other divisions through the corporate website :P

classic, ron!

I guess Bilson wasn't kidding when he said this:



"What matters the most is IP. For Take-Two, it's about GTA. It's about Red Dead. It's about the properties. It's not about even the individuals. So that's how we build our business."



http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/34097/Analysis_THQs_Long_Farew
ell_To_Creative_Mediocrity.php

That's what I thought at first too. To give credit where it's due, I was part of a THQ layoff in the past and we were pretty well taken care of (job search training at a well-run company was paid for, we were referred to other studios 'ahead' of random internet resumes). I still have an ethical issue with how disposable core talent is treated in this industry and apparently at THQ, but I imagine here the interview process at other THQ studios will be expedited in a useful manner.



That said, I chose not to work at another THQ studio after my layoff thinking 'why give them a second chance', and sure enough the one that I was kind of considering moving to (picked another studio, though it was a tough choice that came down to not wanting to be burned by THQ again) was shut down a couple of months later, so... D:

"employees from the shuttered studios will be able to interview for those positions."



LOL yeah, that ought to tell ya about credibility. Your able to re-interview for a position you've held already. Then what,..get restaffed again to sink that production.

Yes, like 6 months worth of crunch.

Maybe they should have worked on the game instead of playing D&D,..they'd have a hit title and we wouldn't be talking about this

That's the problem! We played D&D at lunch! How could we have been so blind!



Andrew, I'm starting to think we should have put this Joe character in charge...

Definitely! Sounds like he'd have us lashed to our chairs with barbed wire, whipped when we ask for a sip of water. I bet he'd have us programmers flogged whenever we introduce a bug--that'd be sure to stop them!



Obviously building hit titles is easy and just requires us to all spend every hour of our lives on the project.



All sarcasm aside, these guys were very talented and I hope they can all find jobs in NYC. We should all show them a little empathy, they just lost their jobs.

An hour lunch to enjoy ourselves a little during a 96-hour work week and we should have focused more on the game. Thanks for the insight.

Hey I have a little inside joke for you Coray,...what's the difference between interviewing for Rock star games (right around the corner from Kaos studios) and working at Kaos studios itself?



One is still making hit titles!!!!!



Come to think of it,...is still making games as well!!!!!

Are you still convinced that Kaos studios can make hit titles under an 8 hour day schedule???





LOL

Yeah, that's up there with Lebron not having 4 quarters to make change for a dollar.



You got anything else?

"Joe", clearly you've got some unresolved issues with your time at Kaos. If you want to hash it out, add me on Facebook or LinkedIn. Happy to talk through things.



And yes, I still believe you can make hit titles in an 8 hour day. Check out the IGDA Quality of Life Whitepaper for some good information on how to get it done: http://www.igda.org/sites/default/files/IGDA_QualityOfLife_WhiteP
aper.pdf

No thank you,..don't want to waste my time being lectured by an amateur.

Good luck with your next endeavor. I'm so looking forward to seeing your 8 hour a day; next hit title.

Will do!!!!! I believe that I and everyone else who reads your comments hopes to never work with you or be a part of anything that you would enjoy.



Worst of luck to you, sir!

It's really easy to troll and hide behind a fake name. Why not tell us who you are Joe?

Whoa whoa whoa! Calm down McCuskey.



It's not like Kaos devs suddenly have a lot of free time and are highly motivated to go onto dev job sites like Gamasutra. And these devs will have no reason to read an article and attached comments about themselves.



I mean, to just berate the people of one studio is just rude, but since these guys are soon going to be spread out across development studios across the globe, alienating them would be be epic. If you don't find a challenge in your career, that would definitely raise the bar.

lol why you gotta win at everything Mason.

So touching,....I just poured a 40 on my homefront.