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Monolith Layoffs In Wake of MXO Deal
Blues has details on the aftermath of the Matrix Online sale. Over 80 employees are now without jobs as a result of the MMOG's move to SOE. The 80 people are "out of a workforce of 200, although at least 25 of those being laid off are those being offered jobs at nearby Sony Online Entertainment."
It really sucks that all of those people are being laid off, but I wonder if in the bigger scheme of things this was Monolith's plan all along. Monolith knew that the MMORPG market was a tough one and that it was probably saturated. But they had one of the premiere properties, The Matrix. Maybe they just decided to finish the thing and see what happened in terms of popularity. If the title was successful and generated good buzz, they would then cash out and sell to someone with the deep pockets needed to keep it going. Many of us MMORPG players complain about monthly fees and buggy releases and expansions. But it really takes truckloads of money to develop, release, and maintain even a successful and popular MMORPG. Perhaps Monolith knew they couldn't do this over the long haul.
Well, just my wild speculations...
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
That's too bad for the employees being laid off, but this is probably the only thing that could save this game. Selling it to SOE really makes sense for both parties. WBIE still has creative control and (I'm presuming) would be paid royalties of some sort for the MxO and DC Comics MMO licenses. And SOE gets two new properties that make its Station All-Access Pass much more attractive.