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Ion Storm Austin Studio Under 'Transition'?

Posted by simoniker on from the transitioning-into-the-sea dept.

madhatter256 writes "According to Shacknews, around 20-25 more employees, allegedly including noted designer Warren Spector, have left the Eidos-owned Ion Storm studio in Austin." There's an official Eidos response at GameSpot, where a spokesperson "denied Spector had exited the organization", but IGN has further official Eidos reports confirming "Both Ion games have been completed and those who were hires specifically for those titles are now finished", and noting that Spector himself, though he could theoretically be exiting by other means, "certainly has not been laid off." This news comes in the context of earlier personnel turmoil, Thief III's fairly well-received release (there's now a playable PC demo available), and a mixed reception for Deus Ex: Invisible War.

3 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Layoffs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    From the article: "...normal staff reduction associated with the completion of the pair of game projects that were underway at ION..."

    Fuck you. No industry should have "normal staff reductions". That's complete bullshit, and I will openly boycott any company that ditches it's development teams as expendable. Even a dev team that makes a shitty game doesn't deserve that. Ion Storm and Eidos can kiss my fucking ass.

    1. Re:Layoffs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Just because it's an accepted business practice doesn't make it right.

    2. Re:Layoffs... by johannesg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This is why the Japanese games are so much better. They keep their teams apart, and thus keep their knowledge and experience in the company instead of taking it out with the trash after every project.