Massive Layoffs At Trion Today? Defiance Affected?

[Justin CarMichael]

Almost makes you wonder if Nathan was one of the first to get the pink slip. His usual weekly blog post is overdue.

Or he's scrambling to find some way to turn all of this into another one of his 'humor' posts.

Hmmm... maybe he could say something like...

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner.. but they might have put her out to pasture."

[Valethar]

Hmmm... maybe he could say something like...

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner.. but they might have put her out to pasture."

LOL I bet he steals that line from you.

[OldDirtyGamer]

This is what happens when smaller publishers try to do huge things with little real practical trial use. The fact is that Trion Worlds had been hemorrhaging losses over the last two years and that is only just now coming to light. Defiance was just as its title implied and, sadly, despite the best efforts of some and the worst efforts of others, the word is that the Defiance team will be decimated. With the number of stakeholders still involved in the project it remains to be seen how this will impact the promised (and in some cases, pre-ordered) DLC packs or, barring that, how Trion will deal with the fallout.

With Rift being shifted to free-to-play and rumored as being very close to being shut down before the decision was made to go in that new direction, the question of interest is what did Trion Worlds do with their funding. According to investment data found on Crunchbase.com, the company raised in excess of $188M dollars in venture capital over the course of 5 years dating back to roughly July 2007. This does not take into consideration the level of repayment or percentage of external ownership the company accrued in raising this capital nor does it include operation costs or generated revenue streams. Still, it is $188M which, in todays economy, would still go a long, long way in terms of game development.

Based on their statement, there has to be some degree of mismanagement, directional confusion, or outright poor management of projects. Several projects have more than likely ran over budget significantly and / or project managers promised thing which they could not realistically or physically deliver at term. These all cost significant money because all of the developers are getting paid, additional people were probably hired, etc.

What we're seeing the endgame of a collapsing house of cards and, to wit, it is very, very sad to see because there are people within the company who really did their absolute best to deliver a product they believed in. Those are your support and community guys (like Sledge) who literally live and die with the game. Their livelihoods are going to be impacted because someone way above them was faulty. Unfortunate but true, that's life in the video game industry and it happens to even the best companies.

I am hopeful that Trion can recover, at least well enough to manage the games they currently have on offer and deliver top-notch service with it. Until, however, the smoke clears and all the rats have left the ship (I've been looking at which executives left, when, and what they were tied to before going), it will be tough sledding as information and updates for the game will most likely slow to a crawl.

[StickyChief]

This is an important topic to chime in on, and is not one we are taking lightly here at the studio.

Please be assured the Defiance team is still supporting the game, DLC and future Season 2 content. Myself, Myll_Erik and the rest of the community team will remain here to continue to support the Defiance community and work with our development team to continue to improve upon the game.

Yes some of our team members did get let go today, but the support for Defiance will remain moving forward.

Does that mean Dahanese is okay?

[Nefarious]

I dont get it. Is it because Trion wants to support Rift? **** Rift. Rift doesint have a TV show.

Full speed ahead for Defiance. Thats what should be done.

[WhiteCell]

This is what happens when smaller publishers try to do huge things with little real practical trial use. The fact is that Trion Worlds had been hemorrhaging losses over the last two years and that is only just now coming to light. Defiance was just as its title implied and, sadly, despite the best efforts of some and the worst efforts of others, the word is that the Defiance team will be decimated. With the number of stakeholders still involved in the project it remains to be seen how this will impact the promised (and in some cases, pre-ordered) DLC packs or, barring that, how Trion will deal with the fallout.

With Rift being shifted to free-to-play and rumored as being very close to being shut down before the decision was made to go in that new direction, the question of interest is what did Trion Worlds do with their funding. According to investment data found on Crunchbase.com, the company raised in excess of $188M dollars in venture capital over the course of 5 years dating back to roughly July 2007. This does not take into consideration the level of repayment or percentage of external ownership the company accrued in raising this capital nor does it include operation costs or generated revenue streams. Still, it is $188M which, in todays economy, would still go a long, long way in terms of game development.

Based on their statement, there has to be some degree of mismanagement, directional confusion, or outright poor management of projects. Several projects have more than likely ran over budget significantly and / or project managers promised thing which they could not realistically or physically deliver at term. These all cost significant money because all of the developers are getting paid, additional people were probably hired, etc.

What we're seeing the endgame of a collapsing house of cards and, to wit, it is very, very sad to see because there are people within the company who really did their absolute best to deliver a product they believed in. Those are your support and community guys (like Sledge) who literally live and die with the game. Their livelihoods are going to be impacted because someone way above them was faulty. Unfortunate but true, that's life in the video game industry and it happens to even the best companies.

I am hopeful that Trion can recover, at least well enough to manage the games they currently have on offer and deliver top-notch service with it. Until, however, the smoke clears and all the rats have left the ship (I've been looking at which executives left, when, and what they were tied to before going), it will be tough sledding as information and updates for the game will most likely slow to a crawl.

I don't think it's that dire but End of Nations and now Defiance were huge blows to a company that needed another success after Rift. That supposed budget for Defiance is true is outrageous and surely isn't representative at all with what was produced. That would certainly explain why so many were fired on top of bad sales.

[DaMaJaDiZ]

You have to be such a Debby downer don't you? I still have hope for it though despite the hurdles.

Man, I really don't mean to be a downer. I'd do a double backflip if we actually got this show back. But I've got a big problem with wish fulfillment being a substitute for reality. If more people would actually work the specific problem, then we might actually get what we all want. Fans these days are notorious for pumping what they want into the dream factory, and then crying ad nauseum about not getting what they want.

[DaMaJaDiZ]

I dont get it. Is it because Trion wants to support Rift? **** Rift. Rift doesint have a TV show.

Full speed ahead for Defiance. Thats what should be done.

Correction. A TV show doesn't have Rift. You have it backwards my friend.

[Dandrielas]

Man, I really don't mean to be a downer. I'd do a double backflip if we actually got this shoe back. But I've got a big problem with wish fulfillment being a substitute for reality. If more people would actually work the specific problem, then we might actually get what we all want. Fans these days are notorious for pumping what they want into the dream factory, and then crying ad nauseum about not getting what they want.

I have enough of reality to deal with, so I choose to believe in this. /shrug I do agree though with what the fans do, but it doesn't bug me since we have no real power to begin with.

[DaMaJaDiZ]

I have enough of reality to deal with, so I choose to believe in this. /shrug I do agree though with what the fans do, but it doesn't bug me since we have no real power to begin with.

One man. One vote!
Keep believing brother.