After reading this, an ex-Vigil employee, I have to say a few words.
http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/04/h...igil-team-based-on-a-single-meeting/view-all/
That's not exactly how it went down, close but not the entire truth.
"Crytek USA was the result of a single meeting" ....not quite, there were a few approaches and backdoor discussions as shit was hitting the fan, foolish to think otherwise.
We were all surprised nobody bid on us, but the more pieces of information that come forth start to build a more ominous picture of maybe why Vigil died in this manner, and why half the studio was left out in the cold.
True Vigil wasn't working on Darksider 3, we made a prototype of a brand new product. It was multiplayer likely of being a free to play title, incorporated some pop features; auto generated environments, crafting, endless content, etc...
Rubin had repeatedly told us he was pitching this to all investors and that jaws were dropping - THEY LOVED US - We felt safe, we stuck around. Loyal to a fault.
Adams is "passionate about what he does" but certainly not "passionate about the team he works with" Sure he has his favorites, but he's a results driven burn them into the ground until it's done, kind of guy. The only reason I say this is in hope he will change for the better, for the people he took with him. They are talented and good people who deserve a break. There's a reason not everyone (who got asked) signed up for Vigil 2.0
Adams was in talks with Crytek prior to the shutdown but nothing was certain or decided. It was a wait and see how the auction goes period from what I could tell.
Someone is telling lies though. Either Crytek about the "too many unknowns" or Rubin "jaws dropped". Did Rubin keep things hush-hush so as to keep the bids low? Did Crytek know everything, but seeing no bids, opted for the freebie fallout? I'm guessing the latter but who knows, doesn't matter now, unfortunately good people got screwed because of it.
So this is how it really went down that day ... Adams was told to pick his "core team" in order for the deal to happen. Nothing wrong in that, after all there was a large population of the studio that had just been worn down and beaten for so long, all this waiting to see if we had jobs dragging on, you can go as far back as the layoffs to see morale never really improved in the studio.
Let me rewind briefly - THQ handled the layoffs so poorly it just killed us, Its half the reason Darksiders 2 was so buggy and lacked polish they fired part of the team,
DMO was dead in the water months before this ever happened and some of them had started to help out on Darksiders 2. There was also change of structure after Darksiders 2 that never really panned out, people were disheartened, disgruntled and felt powerless in their jobs. The other large issue at Vigil was because Adams is a control freak; he's a designer, a programmer, a level builder, if he could animate he would ....yes smart and talented and for the most part a nice guy on his good days. But, your work and duties basically revolve around his needs, once you make peace with that you could be successful at Vigil. Your job ultimately was to run around and make sure the master is pleased. In his defense, he got better towards the end, realizing his tactics we're not profitable after 6 years. Sure we made some cool stuff but it took blood, sweat and in some cases literal tears, oh and Darksiders never made money. Maybe Adams did what he had to do, THQ was of no help at all, full of false promises and lacking support in all areas, or maybe we just werent honest with them on how troubled Vigil was.
Ok, back to The Day - So here's the part that smarts ...
How Crytek USA really got formed; As we're all standing around in the lobby watching Rubin and that brainless muppet (aka Brian Im alright jack, keep your hands off my stack Farrell) tell us of our demise on the big screen. Adams is slyly walking through the bodies, when he suddenly stops at one, taps on a shoulder and gives a nod "hey, got a minute" ...and off they sneak somewhere, only to come back a few moments later somewhat red faced (maybe shame, or glee, at this point hard to tell), then he pauses for a few minutes pretending to give a shit what is being said by that numbnut Farrell, then moves to the next recruit for Crytek USA, and so on. Not so sly after all but really kind of just rude and disrespectful to the rest of us that noticed or didn't get the tap. The deal already in place, now the hand picking of the crew, while the Rubin/Farrell speech is still happening. So what we got here is; wait to confirm Vigil is a bust, then right away form Crytek USA.
Adams - "my mind was really focused on finding people a place to land" - horseshit - he was so busy starting his new venture he didn't even address the studio that day, as half of us shuffled about gathering our things, he and the other half quickly took off trying not to let on of their new found luck. As a GM he has failed miserably, but this was his shining moment of failures, ignoring the people that gave him way more than he was entitled to take from each of us. To this day he hasnt focused on finding us a place to land.
Alright now, bitterness aside. I have no doubt things will work out this time round, I'm pretty sure Crytek won't put up with the usual missing deadlines and unruly behavior. He's lucked out as CEO, but those job chores will fall to some other guy anyway, as Adams will be working hard designing, coding and building levels as usual.
In the end Rubin tried hard and THQ would've collapsed months earlier had it not been for him. THQ shafted ex-employees hard and cold - no lube, no severance, no vacation payout, no career events, no leads, no gatherings, nothing. Zero, zip, nada!
Best of luck Crytek USA - you do have some talented people right there, but you could've had more.
