Staff at Gears of War: E-Day studio The Coalition are reportedly worried that they may be laid off immediately following the game’s release.
Gears of War: E-Day is released on October 6, with early access available starting today for those who bought the Premium Edition of the game.
What should be a time for celebration is also reportedly being met by trepidation, however, as sources at the studio claim staff are concerned for their futures once the game’s out.
Eurogamer reports that sources told them Xbox‘s decision to lay off story director Juan Vaca just last week, right before the game’s release, has been “very demoralising” for the development team at The Coalition.
“I can only imagine the heartbreak of spending all those years on a game to have the final stretch ripped away, completely out of your control,” the source told the publication. “It’s like you planned for a year on a meal for your family where everyone will be there and the day of, you get locked out of the building or something and can’t join in.”
Staff are reportedly now “on edge” because while they didn’t expect the studio to escape Xbox’s widespread layoffs, they at least expected it to happen a little later down the line.
“We honestly expected the layoffs to hit us post-release, but that seems to not matter now,” the source said. “Now we’re just expecting the next wave, or being reorganised under Activision or something later this year.”
Another source raised concern that if staff are laid off soon, they may miss out on a contracted bonus which is paid out should the game reach a certain score on Metacritic.
The source said studio leadership informed staff that this bonus is expected to be paid out “near the end of October”, but in order to qualify for the bonus developers have to still be full-time employees when the payout is made, meaning they now face a month of worry.
The publication does state that, as it understands it, staff who were recently impacted by layoffs (including Vaca) will still receive their bonuses if the Metacritic targets are met. As such, anyone laid off after the game’s release should technically be eligible.
One source said the studio remains sceptical of this, however, saying they “wouldn’t put it past Microsoft” to find a way to avoid paying the bonus, adding: “It’s hard to believe anything [Microsoft leadership] say anymore after discarding staff in this manner.”
“There was a general perception here that we’re in a relatively secure spot, despite everything in the industry,” another source added. “But now that feeling is up in the air.”
Microsoft declined to comment when asked by the publication to comment on claims made in the report.
