Krome Studios official statement
News from Yug - Friday, 13 November 2009 @ 6:43pm
We've gotten an official statement from Krome Studios regarding the redundancies today. It should be noted, of the people I've spoken to, no one is begrudging Krome all that much - everyone is being taken care of accordingly, no projects have been dropped, and Krome is being fairly transparent with its staff. It doesn't suck any less, but at least it's not like the Auran fiasco years ago.
In this very challenging time for the games industry, Krome Studios like many other companies is in the process of restructuring its business accordingly. Regrettably, an undisclosed number of employees across each of Krome’s three studio locations were informed they would be let go. The following statement was made by Krome CEO, Robert Walsh:
"With declining game sales the industry is really feeling the effects of the struggling economy. In spite of industry wide cutbacks and Krome’s need to reduce costs, we’ve worked really hard to minimize the impact on our staff. These cuts, while incredibly difficult as they affect the co-workers we consider friends, are necessary as we position Krome for the future. We’re also actively pursuing several business opportunities which, if secured, will enable Krome to reemploy some of the staff given notice."
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At least the official statement was pretty honest. I also like that they gave a mention that should work pick up those that were let go will get first priority for re-hire. Gives the impression that the cut might be a bit more temporary...but on the flip side it could become worse, let's hope not.
Either way, more talent goes begging. Need an Australian super-dev company to snap up all this work.
Kakansho, I can see where you're coming from, especially from a consumer point of view. However, it's not as easy or as black & white as that.
Thank you;
I'll concede to that.
Fair enough. I understand and acknowledge your points. As you said, my opinion was from a general consumer point of view. You've raised a good argument and certainly informed me, so thank you.
Thanks for speaking frankly and truthfully, Yug.
Kakansho, I can see where you're coming from, especially from a consumer point of view. However, it's not as easy or as black & white as that.
My personal view (and if anyone wants to call me up and correct me, please do) is that Krome Studios is a company that guarantees games that will be made on time and on budget. To be honest, this is something that alot of other Australian studios aren't able to boast.
The majority of games they make also target a slightly different demographic than the ones who are affected by review scores - Spyro, Clone Wars, Viva Pinata ... these are franchises where the MAJORITY of people buying the games won't read reviews for them first, fans of the franchises and younger kids.
Krome is a reliable outsourcing studio for old gen games too - Activision doing Transformers and need a PS2 version - talk to Krome, they'll get it done on time and on budget.
And I believe that budget and timeframe wouldn't give much leway for creativity. In order to be competative in todays market, Krome aren't going to ask for 3 years and 60 million to make the next Modern Warfare 2 game.
So - also keep in mind that no projects have been CANCELLED, it's just a culling of staff across the board. Lots of people I know have been extremely talented people, and it's a shock for them to be let go.
you have no heart. you absolute cunt. the people being let go are not the ones who chose the projects or subject of the projects they are hard working highly skilled professionals. as a freelancer (admittedly in a separate but close field) I know the pressure these closures have on these talent people.
[url="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/starwarstheclonewarsrepublicheroes?q=star%20wars%20republic%20heroes"]42[/url], [url="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/hellboy?q=hellboy%20the%20science%20of%20evil"]44[/url], [url="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/starwarstheclonewarslightsaberduels?q=clone%20wars%20lightsaber%20duels"]56[/url], [url="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/wii/transformersrevengeofthefallen?q=Revenge%20of%20the%20Fallen%20Wii"]53[/url]. I base my opinion on these games.
There certainly seems to be a trend, and it's debatable that they release more lower-scoring games than successful ones. Keep in mind that my opinion on them as a company is my own, simply based on the results of their actions.
For example: For Hellboy: The Science of Evil only 840 gamer score is unlockable. The rest is [SECRET ACHIEVEMENT]s. Hackers discovered the last few achievements could only be unlocked with the 'DLC'. Krome, however, has no plans to release DLC (that they've made public over the past year, at least), and so completionists whose passion is to 100% games must suffer. Why? I'd assume laziness.
I said this earlier in the post and conceded that game development was a difficult thing. I'm simply saying it how I see it. Each to his own, yeah?
