layoffs?

EricNoah · 3rd December 2008, 01:35 AM

One of my sad duties during my time as the D&D news guy was reporting on a round of layoffs at WotC.

I see a note on Chris Pramas' Facebook page to the effect that he's hearing rumors of the same going on right now.

Anyone have anything more substantial?

Scribble · 3rd December 2008, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricNoah

One of my sad duties during my time as the D&D news guy was reporting on a round of layoffs at WotC.

I see a note on Chris Pramas' Facebook page to the effect that he's hearing rumors of the same going on right now.

Anyone have anything more substantial?

Nothing substantial... but can I say I hope it's not true?

Layoffs suck.

Darrin Drader · 3rd December 2008, 01:40 AM

My sources say that layoffs have definitely occurred.

DaveMage · 3rd December 2008, 02:52 AM

Regrettably - 'tis the season.

Obviously, though, layoffs are everywhere these days so this is not a WotC-only issue for sure.

Shemeska · 3rd December 2008, 02:57 AM

Sean K Reynolds mentions on his LJ that layoffs happened. But no names given.

PaizoCEO · 3rd December 2008, 02:58 AM

Here are the names I have confirmed as of a few minutes ago:

Randy Buehler (VP of digital gaming)
Andrew Finch (director of digital games)
Stacy Longstreet (senior art director)
Julia Martin (editor)
William Meyers (creative manager, digital design)
Dave Noonan (game designer)
Jennifer Paige (online community manager)
Jennifer Powers (marketing)
Jonathan Tweet (game designer)

-Lisa Stevens
CEO
Paizo Publishing

DaveMage · 3rd December 2008, 03:04 AM

Holy crap!!!

Rechan · 3rd December 2008, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Dave Noonan (game designer)

Ow, my heart just got stabbed a little.

I really like Noonan. I love his voice on the Podcasts, he is very outgoing. I can't put his name to the various 4e stuff (not sure what he did specifically), but I know he was very in the mix with it, and that makes me really sad. (Well, sadder than just knowing people are getting layed off).

Quote:

Jonathan Tweet (game designer)

He still works for WotC? Wow. I also can't put his name to anything, but the nostalgia of him working on 3e makes me familiar enough with him to feel bad. Dang.

I notice a lot of those are in the digital area. Might this be in response to the Gleemax failure? Or something over DDI not performing?

Aus_Snow · 3rd December 2008, 03:07 AM

Ouch. Jeebus.

I hope things turn out well for them all.

Michael Silverbane · 3rd December 2008, 03:09 AM

That sucks.

I wish all those that have been laid off the best of luck.

Darrin Drader · 3rd December 2008, 03:10 AM

I owe a great deal to Julia Martin, so I consider this extremely unfortunate.

Shemeska · 3rd December 2008, 03:14 AM

If Jennifer Paige aka Solice was fired, that sucks majorly. She did a damn fine job cleaning up the mess that a lot of folks felt that Mike / GamerZer0 had turned the WotC boards into during the Gleemax period. She was nice and she was polite, and too often a punching bag for the problems over there.

Kamikaze Midget · 3rd December 2008, 03:15 AM

Woah.

Those are some pretty big names. Dave Noonan? Jonathan Tweet? Julia Martin? Randy Buehler?

Awful season for it, too.

That sucks. Especially in this career climate.

Herremann the Wise · 3rd December 2008, 03:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaizoCEO

Here are the names I have confirmed as of a few minutes ago:

Randy Buehler (VP of digital gaming)
Andrew Finch (director of digital games)
Stacy Longstreet (senior art director)
Julia Martin (editor)
William Meyers (creative manager, digital design)
Dave Noonan (game designer)
Jennifer Paige (online community manager)
Jennifer Powers (marketing)
Jonathan Tweet (game designer)

-Lisa Stevens
CEO
Paizo Publishing

Is this a typical cleaning out? Does this reflect on the success (or lack of) of DDI, or D&D in general? What should (if anything) be read into this?

Seems an awful lot of talent being cut adrift there. I'm sorry for all the guys there - right before Christmas too - but Dave Noonan in particular - I really like him.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

RefinedBean · 3rd December 2008, 03:15 AM

Sweet mercy. Do we have any other confirmation on those names?

(no offense to Lisa, of course)

Best of luck to those who were let go.

Rechan · 3rd December 2008, 03:18 AM

More on layoff thoughts:

Could this be indicative of Hasbro? Not saying "The Corporate Suits are killin' our guys!" but more: has Hasbro made cuts in all areas of the company? This could simply be a 'We need to downsize all of our departments, to cover costs and salaries'.

EricNoah · 3rd December 2008, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herremann the Wise

Is this a typical cleaning out? Does this reflect on the success (or lack of) of DDI, or D&D in general? What should (if anything) be read into this?

I wouldn't read a lot into it.

Does anyone remember the rough timeline for how the 3.0 layoffs went? 3E was released in August 2000. Didn't the first big wave come in like Oct/Nov of that same year? And then there was another smaller round the next spring I think. Boy I'm having trouble remembering...

Olgar Shiverstone · 3rd December 2008, 03:20 AM

I can see the digital games layoffs, given WOTC's history.

Dave Noonan, given his role in 4E, is quite a surprise (unless it was voluntary).

Nothing like layoffs right before Christmas.

Darrin Drader · 3rd December 2008, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricNoah

I wouldn't read a lot into it.

Does anyone remember the rough timeline for how the 3.0 layoffs went? 3E was released in August 2000. Didn't the first big wave come in like Oct/Nov of that same year? And then there was another smaller round the next spring I think. Boy I'm having trouble remembering...

Yep. There are certain names I would expect to see if D&D was getting the axe, and so far I haven't seen any of those names come up. DDI is taking a massive hit though.

carmachu · 3rd December 2008, 03:24 AM

Isnt this the second set of layoffs since 4e was released?