But engine firm says changes rebuild firm for better developer partnerships
Gamebryo vendor Emergent has confirmed to Develop that jobs will go at the technology firm in the wake of its restructuring.
However, it insists that the move will mean it can now better serve the development community.
Last night, the company announced it has chosen to completely restructure its technology team - which means its most recent creation, Gamebryo Lightspeed 'will now be extended through agile development driven by customer demand'.
It is now pursuing closer relationships with customers looking to use the engine - rather than, it seems, having a larger technology team drive changes to the platform.
In a statement the firm said:"Emergent is committed to redefining its relationship with its customers. The increasing financial pressure on the industry and the rapidly evolving content space has increased the need for collaborative relationships between Emergent and the development community.
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"This move is another step in Emergent’s drive to provide unparalleled support built upon the best game technology available in the industry. As part of the restructuring effort, Emergent will shift resources from its core development team, to Emergent’s worldwide developer and publisher programs."
Speaking to Develop, an Emergent spokesperson decline to explain how many jobs would be lost - but said the firm's structure will focus primarily on Los Angeles and that core development of Emergent’s technology will remain to be created in its Chapel Hill office.
"The core tech team has been restructured from top to bottom, and we have brought into focus our developer and publisher programs," the spokesperson told Develop.
"Much of this new focus will be in LA. Additionally, strategic partnerships with third parties will be announced shortly."
In terms of how the restructuring impacts staff they added: "We were able to shift some people into positions that were redefined in the new company structure. But we were not able to transition all of the staff to different positions with the company."
There will be no changing to how Gamebryo is sold or licensed, however - indeed, Emergent now says that restructuring will help provide more services to studios: "This restructuring will actually provide greater resources to answer immediate tech needs, but also creates greater opportunities for Emergent to collaborate with development studios throughout the development process."
You can't hide the fact that layoffs means the company is losing money. These guys should learn to tell the truth.
We just started work with them, this sounds scary.
From the public announcements I've seen they've gone through more than $40 million in venture capital. It's going to be hard for them to get more funding this year.
Fewer people = better service? Seriously? Follow that principle through to its logical conclusion and Emergent would lay off its entire workforce. I think they may be trying to put the most positive spin on a difficult announcement.
As Rob says they've taken in serious investment. If that's not enough will they be able to raise more? It's hard to see where they go from here. I feel sorry for the guys who work there.
"Emergent spokesperson" might be able to play with her/own mind, but don't try to mess with ours. This is worse spin than even Bush ever attempted.
What ever happened to their Metrics and Server software? Seems like Gamebryo is the sole surviving product left.
Gamebryo is a good product but that doesnt make it a good business. Too much investment no growth prospects in a very competitive market with razor thin margins. Add to that the fact that there is no new product on the horizon and every other product they tried to launch failed, precisely coz the mgmt team has no idea what it takes to build software.
Its not advised to base your company's future on such a company's product
"collaborative relationships between Emergent and the development community"
I've heard rumors they've fired more than 20 engineers and expect their customers to help them with the development. With all that spin, I wouldn't be surprised if the investors are trying to reduce the body-count to sell off the remaining IP and customer base to someone else
