60 70 people may have been laid off from Carbine today. The update is at the bottom of the post.
WildStar’s CRB Hotspur is apparently no longer working for Carbine, according to Twitter. He was WildStar’s technical and systems designer.
https://twitter.com/CRB_Hotspur/status/708368875549626369
We have not yet been able to confirm whether his departure is part of a larger wave of layoffs. Confirmed. We welcome more information from former employees. Multiplayer Systems Lead Brett Scheinert left last week.
In even more sobering WildStar news, former Carbine Product Director Mike Donatelli told twitter followers that he’d been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer:
I recently was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia. My dad had cancer. My cousin has cancer. Go to the doctor. pic.twitter.com/6YfVJ4Q1Fl
— Dapperdon (@DapperDonatelli) March 9, 2016
Donatelli seemingly ceded his role to Chad Moore in February. We wish all the best to him and his family.
Hearing over 60 people affected today @Carbine_Studios.
The games industry is brutal.#GameJobs— Tony Reyes (@tonyreypak) March 11, 2016
For those following for Wildstar I am no longer at Carbine.
However I'm set on a secret thing elsewhere, so stay tuned if you so desire!
— Tom Cassera (@Hildogen) March 11, 2016
So many people laid off from @Carbine_Studios today. Fuck the game industry cycle. My thoughts go out to them and their families.
— Jasmine (@irljasmine) March 11, 2016
NCsoft’s Omeed Dariani announced a “reorganization” on the official site, saying the cancellation of the Chinese launch necessitated layoffs and promising that Carbine remains “committed” to the game.
Earlier this morning, Carbine Studios completed a reorganization of its operating structure. Moving forward, the studio will focus on operating and updating WildStar as a live game in the US and Europe. As part of this change, the studio has canceled its plans to bring WildStar to China.
Unfortunately, as a result of these changes, we’ve had to reduce staff. These cuts are directly tied to WildStar’s evolution from a product in development to a live title, to the cancellation of work to bring WildStar to China, and to the overall performance of WildStar since launch in 2014.
These kinds of decisions are exceptionally difficult. The talented and passionate professionals who are impacted by these cuts have been valuable team members and respected colleagues. We wish everyone well for the future and will be providing severance and employment search assistance.
As for WildStar, we remain committed to the game. Over the next few weeks and months we will deliver a significant update to the game, kick off a variety of community events, and continue our work on new content that we will talk more about in the near future.
However, reports Polygon has received from sources close to the studio paint a grimmer picture. While NCSoft’s statement didn’t provide exact numbers, we were told that more than 70 people have been let go from Carbine, as much as 40 percent of the studio’s total workforce. Furthermore, sources tell us it was made clear to remaining employees that they should expect additional layoffs in the coming months. “Those remaining only have a couple months left before Wildstar ‘coasts into the sunset,'” one source told us. All of the sources we spoke with asked to remain anonymous.
