Gas Powered Games hit by layoffs
Gas Powered Games may have only just launched a Kickstarter for their next game, Wildman. However, the studio is suffering layoffs. According to a report, "almost everyone at the company has been laid off."
Update: Chris Taylor offers a comment about the state of the company, and what will happen to the Kickstarter project he just launched.
Gas Powered Games may have only just launched a Kickstarter for their next game, Wildman. However, it appears that Chris Taylor's studio may have been using the crowdfunding platform in an attempt to stave off its financial troubles.
Taylor has confirmed to Kotaku that "we do have a layoff," but did not offer any further details, saying that "we'll be updating our Kickstarter as well with details very soon."
According to the initial report, "almost everyone at the company has been laid off." In fact, one source alleges that "everyone except CEO Chris Taylor and one or two people." The last two games to come from the studio were Supreme Commander 2 and Age of Empires Online.
"The studio is still operating, but we had to slim WAY down to conserve cash reserves," Taylor confirmed to Gamasutra. Apparently, when he said he was "betting it all" on their upcoming Wildman, they weren't kidding. "We spent all the last dough that we've had, and the last several months working on it. So we're betting the company on it," he said.
When contacted about the layoffs, Taylor said that people were let go, but GPG is still a functioning company, although he didn't elaborate on how the company was still going to operate.
"I'm thinking of asking folks, should I shut the Kickstarter down or not? So I'm about to shoot video that will post up tonight saying just that," he told us. "I had to read the tealeaves and foresee that the Kickstarter was not likely to reach its goal, and if it did, only after I squeezed every friend I have to make a contribution. I didn't want to put people I love through that... as it would be just as painful for them to watch as it was for me to do. So, I made the very hard call to conserve money so that GPG could make a transition into a new business model, some people call it right-sizing, but I call it making a tough strategic decision."
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Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Gas Powered Games hit by layoffs.
Gas Powered Games may have only just launched a Kickstarter for their next game, Wildman. However, the studio is suffering layoffs. According to a report, "almost everyone at the company has been laid off."-
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"So, I made the very hard call to conserve money so that GPG could make a transition into a new business model, some people call it right-sizing, but I call it making a tough strategic decision."
Uh... what? How's it going to endear them as a kickstarter favorite by firing a bunch of people to do the thing in the first place... really out on a limb now.-
oh man this update video http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaspoweredgames/wildman-an-evolutionary-action-rpg/posts/388863
This is really bizarre.
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Watch this if you haven't!!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gaspoweredgames/wildman-an-evolutionary-action-rpg/posts/388863?ref=email&show_token=f497a9477a64d0c5&play=1#video
I just pledged $30. Man that video is bleak, and kinda got to me. :/-
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I don't trust Chris Taylor at all especially after watching this video man he makes horrible videos. I wonder if this is all planed and just taking advantage of gamers wallets and it is physiological sales tactics. I would never work for him something does not settle right in my gut I just don't trust him started with that first video and then the prototype.
Also what is up with showing a bug on video you know they edit the video before putting it up. Why on earth would you show that your game has a bug? Its like they are going out of their way to make you feel sorry for them. It's not like they have not made a game like this before and have the engine and expertise from DS1, DS2, Space Siege,Supreme Commander, etc I don't know it all just feels wrong...
Maybe it is just me but something is off, I think I am going to pass on this one.-
You should change your opinion. He is one of the most respected game developers and studio managers around because of his loyalty and commitment to his employees. In sports terms, he's a players' coach.
There isn't anything malicious here. This guy is trying to make a game he and his team feel passionate about but publishers have no interest in.
It breaks my heart that so many crappy Kickstarters have gotten funded and this one is struggling. -
Why not show a bug in the video? He was trying to appeal to a hardcore gamer audience, one that knows that bugs happen especially so early in the process. How many people would have been skeptical if the video would have looked super polished?
I have to admit that I am a Chris Taylor fan and have been so since TA. He has never struck me as a marketing guy, but a true gamer. I've read stories about him not having crunch time because he believes that his employees should see their family and are the better for it. I think he had an idea for a game and the only way to make it and keep his company afloat was to kickstart it. It sounds like he hoped that kickstarter would go off better than what it did. The company hit the point of no return on finances and rather than not pay people what they were owed and fire them all after the money ran out he went this way.
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If they had even a slight idea about the state their finances, they would of seen this coming ages before the kickstarter.
This means either 1 or 2 things:
a) That this move was premeditated before the kickstarter, and could be part of an emotional strategy plea that I think most people would highly dissaprove of if it came to surface.
b) That their financial management was genuinely caught off guard, which means that they are incapable of responsibly managing money, and hence don't really deserve a kickstarter.
There is a tiny chance that there is some other factor at play, but I cant see any obvious ones. You can clearly see emotion in the kickstarter video update 2.
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