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Visceral Montreal (Army of Two) closing? [EA Layoffs at LA/Mont, Comments On NextGen]
- Thread starter Megasoum
- Start date
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Not the Dead Space studio, though they had layoffs too 
oh whoops, I was expecting it on the front page
According to the original article Bioware Montreal and EA Mobile are intact, only the Visceral branch is affected.
Pretty sure he's fine.Codecow
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
There are two Visceral locations. EA Montreal is Visceral Montreal. They are not the Dead Space guys.
Sucks though. Army of Two was a solid co-op game.
You're jumping to conclusions.
Why are you speaking as if Army of Two has already been released and was a failure?
I keep thinking about the costs developing for all these new platforms plus this gen. Gonna be fun.
Was Army Of Two a good game? No I didnt think so.
Sucks about the people who lost their job but if you want to survive in this industry you got to release a quality product.
TalesOfWin
Banned
cant wait to see bf4.
Both previous Army of Two games sold well, and this third one isn't even out.
Terrible news. Good luck to those affected.
I think it's possible that they were planning to move Dead Space to Montreal for next-gen as Redwood Shores ramps up development on their new IP, similar to how they're handling the Mass Effect franchise. DS3 under performing would put a damper on those plans.
Good luck to those affected.I think it's possible that they were planning to move Dead Space to Montreal for next-gen as Redwood Shores ramps up development on their new IP, similar to how they're handling the Mass Effect franchise. DS3 under performing would put a damper on those plans.
I agree with this theory. I think Dead Space and Army of Two are both dead.
dragonflys545
Member
Another development studio bites the dust... Next gen will be even more brutal.
SolidSnakex
Member
Why does everything have to AAA these days? That's the real problem. This is something that publishers have done and now they're going to have to figure out how to fix it. There's nothing stopping a company like EA from developing some mid-tier titles to go along with their AAA games. They've just chose to go that route.
The console section of EA Montreal (not Bioware and not EA Mobile) got 'rebranded' to Visceral Montreal. Within Visceral Montreal there was the Army of Two team and the Dead Space team - if you check the credits for DS2 or DS3 you can see the Montreal section, it's primarily artists and designers.
I'm not sure who the layoffs affect, I haven't seen any confirmation of the whole thing closing, but I would suspect the brunt of it would be the AO2 team given its release date and the timing (and that LA was helping on AO2), but given the next EARS project is probably early in preproduction that could be optimistic and it could be more widespread. AO2 is certainly being sent out to die in the Pandemic-Saboteur style though.
Hopefully the industry in Montreal can absorb the people who are affected.
I'm not sure who the layoffs affect, I haven't seen any confirmation of the whole thing closing, but I would suspect the brunt of it would be the AO2 team given its release date and the timing (and that LA was helping on AO2), but given the next EARS project is probably early in preproduction that could be optimistic and it could be more widespread. AO2 is certainly being sent out to die in the Pandemic-Saboteur style though.
Hopefully the industry in Montreal can absorb the people who are affected.
"Welcome to the Games Industry workplace.
It has been [0] day(s) since the last layoffs."
Actually, I'd disagree. There is no room for middle tier any more (at least not at retail). Either you put enough budget behind something to compete at the top where you can stay on the shelf week to week and month to month, or you slash the budget and lean on licensing and broad distribution to make your returns. If you try to put $10-15m behind something these days, you'll fall into an awkward chasm in the middle where you can't get the unit sales you need at specialty game stores and are too expensive to earn out over time at a budget price in Walmart.
The best (business) decision Activision made in recent years was cutting the middle out of their lineup.
It has been [0] day(s) since the last layoffs."
SolidSnakex said:
Actually, I'd disagree. There is no room for middle tier any more (at least not at retail). Either you put enough budget behind something to compete at the top where you can stay on the shelf week to week and month to month, or you slash the budget and lean on licensing and broad distribution to make your returns. If you try to put $10-15m behind something these days, you'll fall into an awkward chasm in the middle where you can't get the unit sales you need at specialty game stores and are too expensive to earn out over time at a budget price in Walmart.
The best (business) decision Activision made in recent years was cutting the middle out of their lineup.
Codecow
Still here, I work in Redwood City, not Montreal.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
Do Japanese companies cut and burn studios even half as much as western publishers? It is my perception that they don't, but maybe we just to hear about it.
Terrible news.
I think it's possible that they were planning to move Dead Space to Montreal for next-gen as Redwood Shores ramps up development on their new IP, similar to how they're handling the Mass Effect franchise. DS3 under performing would put a damper on those plans.
Perhaps.
It should be pretty obvious by their next fiscal call and seeing if they talk about the brand having a future.
It's probably complete, just waiting to printed, packaged and shipped.
Meaning that the game is DOA before it even hits the store.
Baron_Calamity
Member
This is the new pattern. They build a studio for a single IP in a game or franchise. Once it stops selling, they lay most everyone off only to start up another studio somewhere else with a new game. There are few stable studios anymore.
That's not what it means at all.
I'm certainly not expecting the game to be a smashing success, but I don't see the correlation.
Shining Sunshine
Banned
Meanwhile, they hired like more than 100 people for FIFA.
grosvenor_92
Member
I'm thinking it could be contract workers that were brought in and once the game was finished they would be let go.
SpeedySwaf
Member
When I was growing up, I always thought I'd have fun making video games and creating something fun for others.
But these past few years I've heard so many stories of companies getting shut down due to a lack of sales, and now I'm kinda glad I never got into it. I value stability over everything else, and I probably would've been a nervous wreck working in an industry where ever game could be your last.
But these past few years I've heard so many stories of companies getting shut down due to a lack of sales, and now I'm kinda glad I never got into it. I value stability over everything else, and I probably would've been a nervous wreck working in an industry where ever game could be your last.
Exactly. It's such a common practice in Western game development.
All this really says is that EA does not want to carry the Army of Two franchise into the next-generation. As they shouldn't.
Comes out on March 26. It's bound to be almost finished.
Imbarkus
As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
I'm going to keep my day job and get involved in some indie projects. I should have been doing this the whole time: I never wanted to be Elbow Animator #3 on something like Army of Two anyway.
Yes. Those grapes are probably sour.
Femmeworth
Banned
Should we start predicting when the layoffs at the Redwood Shores branch will begin?
They usually don't give press releases or any kind of notes when contractors are let go, since they're contractors and not really employees of EA (they use a temp staffing agency to employ those). So they technically wouldn't be "layoffs"
SpeedySwaf
Member
Ugh, I have this awful vision of the next gen being supported by the bones of fallen developers, who spent too much on games that sold too little, good or bad.
...Actually, that's an interesting question. Does anyone know how many games were released for each gen?
The problem with the games industry is the over reliance on franchises. I loved Dead Space, but it's not something I want to play again and again. It's not like I've fallen in love with the character and I can't get enough of their antics. Fatigue sets in when there are too many sequels, both for the devs and gamers. Two Dead Space games was more than enough. And that goes for most franchises to be honest. I'd rather play something new than the third, fourth, fifth game in a series. Give me new IPs, new experiences, new environments, new stories. With a new console gen coming, wipe the slate clean and start afresh.
that logical no? isn't it their top selling IP worldwide?
Shining Sunshine
Banned
Just saying that they end up creating more jobs globally even when they have layoffs.
That doesn't seem to be the opinion of the majority of the market though when the charts are consistently dominated by sequels, spinoffs, and ports.