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Rumor: Layoffs at Junction Point (Epic Mickey)?

R

Ravidrath

Member
Guy sitting next to me was a contractor there, and has confirmed layoffs.

However, they seem like minor clean-up layoffs, not sweeping ones... sounds like 10 people or something.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
KareBear said:
More on this please?
Click to expand...

Nintendo did not want to make new core/hardcore games during 2007/2008 and canned all efforts. As a result, the creative leads of Retro Studios left to form Armature Studio.
 
A

apana

Member
We don't know every details of what happened with Retro departure but it is safe to assume Nintendo was pretty heavy handed. For what it's worth Retro did get the choice of working on Donkey Kong or continuing on their own experiments. Miyamoto initially was expecting them to decline.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
apana said:
We don't know every details of what happened with Retro departure but it is safe to assume Nintendo was pretty heavy handed. For what it's worth Retro did get the choice of working on Donkey Kong or continuing on their own experiments. Miyamoto initially was expecting them to decline.
Click to expand...

Initially, Nintendo wanted them to do a Sheik title. Continuing on their own experiments would've been not really true, Nintendo was pretty harsh during that time when it came to new IPs for the hardcore crowd; they did not want those from Retro Studios (neither from NST).

The RS leads wanted to work on their own projects, Nintendo did not want that. That's why they left.
 
A

apana

Member
Shiggy said:
Initially, Nintendo wanted them to do a Sheik title. Continuing on their own experiments would've been not really true, Nintendo was pretty harsh during that time when it came to new IPs for the hardcore crowd; they did not want those from Retro Studios (neither from NST).

The RS leads wanted to work on their own projects, Nintendo did not want that. That's why they left.
Click to expand...

Well I'm talking about the period after these dudes left. The current leads of Retro said that they were working on experiments and decided to switch to Donkey Kong when offered. I can't be sure about details though, I'm not an insider or anything. I never heard about this Sheik title until now, could you share more info?
 
M

MYE

Member
John Harker said:
it's probably not that big, considering EM2
Click to expand...
amGrz.gif
 
B

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
Shiggy said:
Initially, Nintendo wanted them to do a Sheik title. Continuing on their own experiments would've been not really true, Nintendo was pretty harsh during that time when it came to new IPs for the hardcore crowd; they did not want those from Retro Studios (neither from NST).

The RS leads wanted to work on their own projects, Nintendo did not want that. That's why they left.
Click to expand...

Huh, now that's interesting...
 
N

[Nintex]

Member
You guys didn't know about the Sheik title? It was a well known fact that Retro Studios was doing some Zelda thing for a while. You don't have the Zelda sword and shield on a meeting room wall for shits and giggles.
 
F

FoneBone

Member
[Nintex] said:
You guys didn't know about the Sheik title? It was a well known fact that Retro Studios was doing some Zelda thing for a while. You don't have the Zelda sword and shield on a meeting room wall for shits and giggles.
Click to expand...
That Retro was, at one point, working on a Zelda game was known for a while, but the rumors never made it clear whether it was a spinoff or a "real" Zelda title (given that Twilight Princess sold far better in the West than in Japan, it wasn't totally unthinkable that they'd hand the series to a Western team). And this is the first I've heard of it being a Sheik game.
 
H

HylianScribe

Member
[Nintex] said:
You guys didn't know about the Sheik title? It was a well known fact that Retro Studios was doing some Zelda thing for a while. You don't have the Zelda sword and shield on a meeting room wall for shits and giggles.
Click to expand...

Yes, there was that video from IGN showing that, and the stupid Surfer Girl rumor, but nothing concrete (quote, documentation, etc) ever came to light that I know of. The only thing I ever heard was a possible extension of the Link's Crossbow Training concept - a shooter Zelda that was a spinoff. But that was just hearsay I didn't give more than a moment's thought to in terms of credibility.
 
M

markatisu

Member
I highly doubt Epic Mickey sales have any effect on this, Disney seems to be following the Lucasarts pattern

Make a game, can/cut down the studio, move on and wash/rinse/repeat

Epic Micky could have sold CoD numbers and I bet the same thing would happen
 
R

Rush2thestart

Member
Just took a look at those two links, and while that could possibly mean they're moving away from core game development... it still seems like a big stretch and a big jump to conclusion.

Even if that was their intent, Epic Mickey's sales are too significant to just brush away. The franchise definitely looks to be a money maker and I don't see them, or any company, quitting on it (or gaming altogether).
 
P

Pooya

Member
Update
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32616/Report_Disney_Interactive_Sees_Significant_Layoffs.php

Report: Disney Interactive Sees Significant Layoffs

Reports trickling out of game publisher Disney Interactive indicate severe layoffs at the company, including at its Austin-based Junction Point Studios and its Los Angeles headquarters.

"Sources familiar with the situation" told CNBC that a "significant portion" of the division's employees have been let go, citing "some insiders" as reporting the cutbacks may have affected up to half of the studio's 700 employees.

Schell Games' Bryan Cash was among the first to tweet about the layoffs earlier today, offering "condolences to those folks laid off from Junction Point." Other developers have been tweeting similar sentiments, and telling Gamasutra they've heard reports of layoffs at the company.

When Gamasutra requested an official comment on these reports from a studio spokesperson, we were told she could not comment because she had been "affected" by the layoffs.

Despite these reports, Gamasutra has been told that Disney studio Junction Point has not been closed entirely, and that designer Warren Spector is still with the company.
Click to expand...

this sounds bigger than I thought :eek:
 
P

Pooya

Member
SolidSnakex said:
Holy shit they had 700 employees?
Click to expand...
That's not Junction Point, that's Disney Interactive as a whole. when even company's spokesperson is gone you know something big is happening :O
 
P

-PXG-

Member
I'm more interested in finding out how many of those positions (both total and those laid off) are/were contract, and not full-time.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Shiggy said:
Initially, Nintendo wanted them to do a Sheik title. Continuing on their own experiments would've been not really true, Nintendo was pretty harsh during that time when it came to new IPs for the hardcore crowd; they did not want those from Retro Studios (neither from NST).

The RS leads wanted to work on their own projects, Nintendo did not want that. That's why they left.
Click to expand...
Retro Studios may have been working on a Sheik title??

Imagination... Imploding...

I rarely dabble in all the timeline tomfoolery, but imagine if such a game were set in the Adult Link timeline after Link returned to his childhood. As we know from Wind Waker, Ganon came back but the hero didn't and when the people appealed to the gods the world was washed away by a flood. What if Nintendo made The Flood game and solved the question of who we'd play as by having us play as Sheik? After all, Zelda stayed behind in the Adult Link timeline and would've still had all her mad ninja skillz. She could've even passed it on to future generations, and perhaps during The Flood you play as Zelda's great-great-granddaughter, who assumes the Sheik mantle to venture out into a world quickly being overwhelmed by evil in search of the Hero of Time. But of course you don't find him and all goes to hell at the end... Glorious, cel-shaded hell!

Yes, let's have Retro pass on DKCR2 and make this Sheik game, stat!
 
I

ItWasMeantToBe19

Banned
While Nintendo may not have treated Retro that great, it doesn't sound like Armature got any creative freedom at EA either going by Pacini's "2011 games will be completely creatively bankrupt" interview.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
When Gamasutra requested an official comment on these reports from a studio spokesperson, we were told she could not comment because she had been "affected" by the layoffs.
Click to expand...
That's some grim, almost-funny stuff. Sorry to hear about this, I was hoping Epic Mickey did well enough in the US to keep the studio running full strength.
 
S

Spike

Member
I guess they don't need a huge team working on porting Epic Mickey to the PS3/360?

Sad news, indeed. Good luck to everyone who was affected by this.
 
T

Tim the Wiz

Banned
Father_Brain said:
Maybe, if he's happy working on existing Nintendo IP. Nintendo is known to have killed at least three Western-developed, core-oriented new-IP titles this gen (Sphear, Knight Wars, Project HAMMER), so I'm not sure how big on creative freedom they really are these days.
Click to expand...

Those projects you mention probably weren't working out, as with those that Nintendo scuttled at Retro before setting them on the Metroid Prime trilogy.

Otherwise, there are examples of creative freedom being given within the tent. Sakurai made it plain that going with Kid Icarus was pretty much his idea. And Retro could have rejected doing DKC Returns but, really, who in their right mind would?
 
S

Shiggy

Member
Game Director – Junction Point Studios 2008 – 2011
New IP codename – Project Orange
• Managed cross discipline team of 21, worked with whole team as vision holder.
• Responsible for all project creative vision.
• Develop and oversee gameplay prototype design, look, feel, quality and tone.
Click to expand...

So this "Project Orange" (Xbox 360?) was canned?
 
I

I AM JOHN!

Banned
Is it possible they're still working on the game without him, like when Stuart Black left Codemasters in the middle of Bodycount's development claiming he doesn't need to be involved in the game anymore for it to stay the course?
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
Shiggy said:
So this "Project Orange" (Xbox 360?) was canned?
Click to expand...

Most likely; it certainly fits with both the January layoffs and Disney's move away from core-oriented console titles. I assume that JP is now working solely on Epic Mickey 2, considering that they're still in business and that EM1 sold several million.
 
A

Ahoi-Brause

Banned
Epic mickey didnt do well in europe because we had grittier mickey mouse comics for decades now. The game kinda lost it's biggest selling point with that.

esqgcw.jpg
 
L

Lijik

Member
Ahoi-Brause said:
Epic mickey didnt do well in europe because we had grittier mickey mouse comics for decades now. The game kinda lost it's biggest selling point with that.

http://i53.tinypic.com/esqgcw.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
Speaking of grittier Euro disney comics, I really hope we see a decent Papernik game one day.
Click to expand...
 
A

Arooguy

Member
cjelly said:
I really fear for Black Rock now.
Click to expand...

I still fear for them now. Disney has made some pretty bad moves though. They release a lot of their games at bad times. A simple fix to save Black Rock and get some money flowing from them would have been to put them to work on the Cars 2 video game instead of Avalanche who already had success with Toy Story 3 last year. I also think Disney should have kept Turok 2 in development after the success of the first one. There are lots of things they could have done differently. I think they need new management.
 
A

AbsoluteZero

Banned
Sagitario said:
Wait... Has Epic Mickey 2 been confirmed?
Click to expand...

Not to my knowledge, but Spector's gone on record saying that the first game was part of a trilogy, and with the sales of the first game being phenomenal I can't see why they wouldn't have gotten to work right away on EM2.
 
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