Corpsepyre
Banned
Yep...
Puhl was working on the new ip. Guess this confirms it more or less. Fuck.
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IGN: ~50 Layoffs at Sony Santa Monica, Project Canceled [Up2: Was Stig's New IP]
- Thread starter Jonboy
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Puhl was working on the new ip. Guess this confirms it more or less. Fuck.
Frayne Daddy
Banned
Damn that sucks.
EmptySpace
Banned
smh at some people here. they didn't fire people just to spite on gamers. the project is probably going nowhere, or isn't fulfilling the business needs of the organisation.
has anyone here ever been involved in a project in a business organisation? no one cancels a project for the lulz.
Within a publisher as big as Sony there is definitely room for an extra 50 people helping out via outsourcing. So no they wouldn't be twiddling their thumbs. It may not be an ideal situation, but if they're still dedicated to creating new IPs and want SM to be a multi project studio it'd be a temporary situation, and better than downsizing one of their premier studios and loosing a ton of experienced devs.
We don't know at this point. Someone else working on the IP is still at SSM, but their titles has been changed
Didn't the guy call demons souls unbelievably bad or something? Not trying to say he's a bad guy when it comes to things like this but its not like he has a good track record when it comes to it.
I doubt Stig's project(s) has been cancelled, but its team size surely must have been affected by the cut.
Could be anyone in this picture, but I guess Stig's project could still be healthy.
My guess, the goonies
Sony cancelled it because they're arrogant and think PS4 doesn't need any more games and that's the only reason
RamzaIsCool
The Amiga Brotherhood
Doctor_Thomas
Member
Didn't SSM recently move to a new place as well?
EmptySpace
Banned
the game was buggy and glitchy when he played it. at least do some research before spreading nonsense.
This summer.
Layoffs are always bad news but its mostly low level programmers and artist etc. Firing senior guys is the first time i am hearing and that's not a good sign. Seriously closing of liverpool which would have made a technically beautiful good game at console launch plus firing 50 people which includes many seniors is a bad thing for the future projects of sony
Your problem is you see people as more than another resource like pens and staplers.
I think both objectively and subjectively, this is a large group of developers losing their jobs all at once.
anexanhume
Member
With the company 10 years. Obviously not performance based for everyone. They cancelled a project and people got let go. Very sad.
He put Demon's and Dark Souls as a tie for his 2nd and 3rd best games of the generation. So nope.
Ingueferroque
Banned
This is worrying, at the start of the PS4 generation. I can only hope that it was the project that wasn't going anywhere, not that they're running out of funding for internal AAA development.
So they shitcanned Stig's game? That game was in developement for 4 years. Ouch!
Seems that way. Poor folks, having their project canned after so long. I do have to wonder how the project was shaping up, in terms of actually being a sellable game. Could have been another sufferer of Starhawk syndrome, great ideas wrapped up in a totally unappealing way.
Did I say he would cancel a project for the lulz? All I'm saying is that I question his judgement and past decisions.
Exactly.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
I'm going to go ahead and guess you're not an adult.
To be fair, looking into his blog or latest photos he was already moving, so it might be just a personal move.
He did call Demons Souls bad though. That's why Atlus published the game and Sony skipped it. It does take a big man to embrace what is very popular only after it has become popular, though.
EmptySpace
Banned
oh like not publishing demons souls which was a buggy mess when it was pitched to him? please, you played a finished product. learn the difference.
Nightengale
Member
I used to believe this to be true, but the Gamasutra article on Ascension and ND article by IGN had me thinking that maybe devs themselves do want to work on games that had built the popularity of the studio. Slew of people left ND after they decided to move onto a new IP instead of continuing on with Jak/Daxster.
Of course, leadership plays a role in greenlighting said games, but the interest in developing said games may not always be a top-down decision.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Sigh. Today I learned that some gaffers think every new IP is magically perfect and awesome and is going to be really good and fun just because, hey, it's a new IP.
A publisher as big as Sony has development houses and offices all over the planet. It's not as simple as "okay, just go next door, we've got a need for a matte painter, magically". And if those Sony owned devs did have a need for anyone, they will advertise it so those afflicted can apply to those other studios. And this usually (and probably is) the case.
A publisher as big as Sony has development houses and offices all over the planet. It's not as simple as "okay, just go next door, we've got a need for a matte painter, magically". And if those Sony owned devs did have a need for anyone, they will advertise it so those afflicted can apply to those other studios. And this usually (and probably is) the case.
Watch this *glimpse* of what developing a new IP is like from one of the most competent developers on the planet. Actually lot of you should watch this, to get again, just a glimpse of the hardships and troubles a new IP runs into, and why not all of them are destined for release.
Dragon Puncher
Member
If it's the new IP, the project must have been going nowhere, making Sony afraid of throwing money after another last guardian. You don't cancel a game lightly when it's been been in development for 4 years..
That was total pandering BS.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/yoshida-thought-demons-souls-was-unbelievably-bad/
hodayathink
Member
He played an early build, a build which nearly everyone who played it says wasn't very good (if you want proof, there are TGS early impressions on GAF that weren't very popular either). You really should do the smallest bit of research before you bring up things like this.
You learn to tense up if:
A) There's nothing to work on (after your current project wraps or you roll off early)
B) Your current project gets cancelled and A) then becomes true
My guess is the other projects SSM is working on didn't have capacity to add other staffers (from the cancelled one) to it. Sometimes it can take a long time to ramp onto a new project and if it's in a really high pressure stage of development, it can have diminishing returns.
I hope the people affected by this land on their feet.
A) There's nothing to work on (after your current project wraps or you roll off early)
B) Your current project gets cancelled and A) then becomes true
My guess is the other projects SSM is working on didn't have capacity to add other staffers (from the cancelled one) to it. Sometimes it can take a long time to ramp onto a new project and if it's in a really high pressure stage of development, it can have diminishing returns.
I hope the people affected by this land on their feet.
Nightengale
Member
I'm skeptical on it being the new IP, though.
All indications show that the game has been in the cooks long enough that a lead-writer's been on the project for 3 years, and that the game has been in full-production mode immediately after Ascension shipped, as the full team count transitioned onto the new project.
If it's in full-production, that means that for what it's worth, they have a working skeleton of a game that was good enough to start building on top of it. Canning a project at that stage seems ridiculous.
All indications show that the game has been in the cooks long enough that a lead-writer's been on the project for 3 years, and that the game has been in full-production mode immediately after Ascension shipped, as the full team count transitioned onto the new project.
If it's in full-production, that means that for what it's worth, they have a working skeleton of a game that was good enough to start building on top of it. Canning a project at that stage seems ridiculous.
From what I read, he says that when he first played it, and he later on played a near final version and still said it was bad, but maybe I just misunderstood that and he said both comments about the near final version.
Whatever man, I'm just bitter since SSM is one of my favorite Sony studios and any rumor saying a new IP from them getting cancelled gets to me.
keisuke999
Member
I used to really really want to work in the Games Industry.
I'm sure these people, Irrational, SSM, and so on don't regret their life decisions. I sure wouldn't. They are doing what they love, I'm sure.
But, hearing of the extreme volatility of the games industry... maybe I'm better off keeping "games" as a hobby.
I'm sure these people, Irrational, SSM, and so on don't regret their life decisions. I sure wouldn't. They are doing what they love, I'm sure.
But, hearing of the extreme volatility of the games industry... maybe I'm better off keeping "games" as a hobby.
Kazuma Kiryu
Member
Oh god, it's 2014 and people are still spreading bullshit about demon's souls.
"Pitched to him"? You do know SCEJ helped to make it from the beginning, right? And you do know Sony did publish the game in Japan, right? Why didn't he change his mind when the game was close to being released, after they fixed it?
Clearly Sony in Japan must have been fools to produce and publish that broken crap.
GuitarAtomik
Member
Oooohhhh that sucks. I wonder what they were working on.
TGS build was bad. Can't blame him for thinking what most people thought too at the time.
Did you even read the article you quoted?
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
TGS build was terrible man. I wrote the game off after seeing footage of it then.
Nope nothing is confirmed.
Doctor_Thomas
Member
At the time, Sony had their head firmly lodged inside their rectum.
EmptySpace
Banned
why not? that's basic project management. if the project isn't working or the outlook isn't looking good, you'd lose less money the earlier you stop/cancel it. i know a company which lost 200k 6 months into a supposed 2-year project which would've cost them 4 million had they continued with it.
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