Former H1Z1 Technical Director and PlanetSide Arena dev Josh “Autenil” Kriegshauser posted a tweet this evening suggesting that Daybreak has once again undergone layoffs.
“Sorry to hear about the layoffs at @DaybreakGames today,” he wrote. “Lots of friends were affected. ?”
At least one of those laid off, programmer on H1Z1 and PlanetSide Alex Hoffman, confirmed the event: “I got let go from Daybreak Games today. So I’m looking for a job. […] I loved the people I worked with and I’m really proud of what we accomplished in my (nearly) 8 years there. I’ll always love Planetside.”
Kriegshauser himself gave his notice just a few weeks ago. He says the company is “still around, just smaller. More news in coming days and weeks, I reckon.”
We don’t know how many people were let go nor which teams were affected.
Daybreak, as MMORPG players will know, has struggled mightily under its bizarrely obfuscated current ownership after being sold off from SOE in 2015. Just in the last year, it’s suffered multiple rounds of layoffs, project closures and cancellations, a huge esports financial scandal, and investment moves that looked pretty desperate. But recently, it’s been pouring love into EverQuest, EverQuest II, PlanetSide 2, and DC Universe Online; polling for a new fan event; and talking up the future of EverQuest. This summer, the studio was busy registering websites and trademarks for Darkpaw Games, Rogue Planet Games, and Golden Age Studios, plus it registered a new Daybreak Game Studios LLC. And of course, the company revived PlanetSide Arena just a few weeks ago, though the early access hasn’t gone over that well.
We have reached out to Daybreak for comment. As always, our sympathies are entirely with the rank-and-file devs affected.
Friends,
It's with a heavy heart that I have to say that I am no longer with Daybreak Games. While I'm saddened by the decision, I am happy to say that my employment there was extremely fun for all the years that I've had tech jobs.
DMs are open, onto the next adventure. pic.twitter.com/I0NttX3sHI
— LZR | Lester (@TX3017) October 11, 2019
Ugh, hate seeing a lot of my friends get laid off today from yet another round of Daybreak layoffs. I feel for all of you and hope you all land on your feet. When the time comes please come work in blockchain games with me!
— Arclegger (@Arclegger) October 12, 2019
“[T]this team has done things way above expectations. Both attempting to make huge features, as well as doing our best to respond to and make the game better in general. While there were absolutely hiccups on the way, I feel the team did as much as they could with as much as was given to us. I plan to continue playing Planetside, and doing what I can to interact with the community, no longer as a dev, but as a friend. […] I have faith in Wrel and the changes going forward, the path that was set before is long, difficult, and entirely worth it.”
Bryan Burness was one of the “few original PS2 devs still at Daybreak” according to his post. He also says he was turned out yesterday and urges players to go easy on Wrel and A_Sites, who are left on the team.
“I was prepared for this, even considering leaving Daybreak on my own in recent months so don’t concern yourself with me, but please send your well wishes and support to all the people who were affected by todays layoffs; every single one of them are talented and passionate individuals and not one of them deserved this, to lose the caliber of people they lost today is a massive hit to the company and I hope the leadership understands what they just did for the sake of the fantastic people that remain and the future of Planetside itself.”
