Codemasters Guildford Studio to close!

[JdB 151]

If CM has a death wish, they will sack all of the developers except for Lenton, and let him move on to ruin the next "flagship" title :D

Alternative he can work for BIS, as a human paperweight, empty the septic tank or serve as a target in the airsoft and paintball matches.

[-GR-Operative 10]

The game-developers (modelers, mappers, scripters, etc) are really talented, but they were somewhat 'misguided'.

BIS probably could get some of those to work in ARMA3 or VBS2 (that really receives heavy funding).

[bangtail 0]

Collateral damage.

I don't think anyone is taking pleasure in individuals losing jobs -but when a lying, decpetive company that has ripped people off goes down - people cheer.

When Enron went down, secretaries, laborers etc... all went down -we're not cheering that fact tho it's an unfortunate byproduct of the POS company they worked for.

Personally, I'm f*ckin glad they sank.

This ^^

No one wants to see good people lose their jobs but CM's shooters were crap and their PR was a mountain of bullshit.

Good riddance.

[.Taffy 10]

Does anyone think BIS might buy back the OFP title if it went for sale. I don't imagine they would, or at least might not use it if they did. As Marek Spanel explained here a lot of thought has been put into the ArmA name.

[Dallas 9]

CM decided to milk OFP for everything they could and as a result ran the good name into the ground. BI has been forced to seperate themselves from the name, but both BI and CM has proved without doubt, that a name does not make a game alone.

[von_paulus 0]

Even have been spoiled by codemasters, the name still has a powerful market value. Specially, if BIS took possession of it again.

Operation Flashpoint deals with cold war events, while ArmA deals with modern equipments.

I'd gladly support both franchises. And I'm sure that most people in this forum would do it.

[b101_uk 10]

I somehow doubt that shutting their Guildford studio would prevent CM from making any shooting games at their other studios if they wanted to.

[ProfTournesol 956]

Even have been spoiled by codemasters, the name still has a powerful market value. Specially, if BIS took possession of it again.

Operation Flashpoint deals with cold war events, while ArmA deals with modern equipments.

I'd gladly support both franchises. And I'm sure that most people in this forum would do it.

I'm afraid BIS has put an end to the OFP chapter with the 1.99 patch renaming OFP to Arma : CWA.

[von_paulus 0]

I'm afraid BIS has put an end to the OFP chapter with the 1.99 patch renaming OFP to Arma : CWA.

That's true.

However in business, going back in a decision, is not so uncommon.

But more than anyone else, BIS is in a better position to evaluate the whole situation.

I'm only saying, that there's, probably, room for both.

Not all OFP fan is an ArmA fan.

Edited September 14, 2011 by Von_Paulus

[Flash Thunder 10]

Nice.....

lgoXUzIwXk0

[kklownboy 43]

I would not worry about the jobs lost. Anybody that has been on the previous "shooter" projects already lost them and then some were called back. Its the way of the biz, if your just a hired hand. Its always short, with one foot out the door when working for a crap studio as CM. But its all about there engine, its not made for shooters. Codemasters has not the cash to build a shooter engine in house, and wont license any of the good ones. Now if UBI would just explode and spin out the good stuff (redstorm) to be indie.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Does anyone think BIS might buy back the OFP title if it went for sale. I don't imagine they would, or at least might not use it if they did. As Marek Spanel explained here a lot of thought has been put into the ArmA name.

I am just going to say that if you need to explain your name to your customers something is off. And yes, i do think that, for example, 'Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter' is a more interesting name than 'ArmA', purely because its longer.

In the end it doesnt really matter to me, but the name doesnt really help the game i think.

[Cyper 18]

I feel a little bit sad for this. Because a lot of people obviously have lost their jobs, aswell included failed titles in their CV, not to mention the cost for something like this, and It's all due to idiots like Sion Lenton and the rest of the people at Codemasters that support their business.

As always I bet the people that are behind all this crap will get away with it.

I do feel very happy about the fact Codemasters screwed up real bad. I only hope that the people behind it wont get away with it.

[jw custom 56]

I feel just as sad as when Osama Bin Laden was killed :)

[Cyper 18]

I just hope Brothers in arms: furious 4 will meet the same fate.

[celery 8]

Collateral damage.

I don't think anyone is taking pleasure in individuals losing jobs -but when a lying, decpetive company that has ripped people off goes down - people cheer.

When Enron went down, secretaries, laborers etc... all went down -we're not cheering that fact tho it's an unfortunate byproduct of the POS company they worked for.

Personally, I'm f*ckin glad they sank.

Which company's sinking are you talking about? Codemasters only closed one of its five studios and most likely kept the executive people who were responsible for what was wrong in the games. This event's effect on anything but the lives of those 66 people is minimal.

[max power 21]

While we may take a certain schadenfreude in this news, I wouldn't worry too much about the front line developers. They will find other work. The work done on Operation Flashpoint RR was done by people with obvious talent. The art direction in the vistas and lighting was a bit overblown and the game design itself was laughably uninspired, but these are all top tier decisions. People in the industry realise that these people were working for a well established company on a flagship title, and that they weren't fired. I mean, it sucks, and it's unfortunate, but they will bounce back for certain.

[-GR-Operative 10]

While we may take a certain schadenfreude in this news, I wouldn't worry too much about the front line developers. They will find other work. The work done on Operation Flashpoint RR was done by people with obvious talent. The art direction in the vistas and lighting was a bit overblown and the game design itself was laughably uninspired, but these are all top tier decisions. People in the industry realise that these people were working for a well established company on a flagship title, and that they weren't fired. I mean, it sucks, and it's unfortunate, but they will bounce back for certain.

They did it exactly as the higher command wanted I suppose. That is what the industry wants, people that can do what they are supposed to do. Now, do these people get moved to another CM studio or they are free to sign with other developers?

[max power 21]

From the article, it appears they are 'encouraged' to apply for positions at one of their other studios. This means that they are no longer Codemasters employees.

[froggyluv 2130]

Which company's sinking are you talking about? Codemasters only closed one of its five studios and most likely kept the executive people who were responsible for what was wrong in the games. This event's effect on anything but the lives of those 66 people is minimal.

Enron was a U.S energy company that held the state of California hostage to charge higher fees and eventually started turning power off.

Well at the end of the day I'm a consumer so my only real concern is quality of end-product and ethical business practice in my beloved hobby. Any loss of work is unfortunate and I do not wish that on anyone really, excepting the criminally deceptive - but if your looking for sympathy for those programmers, they're pretty far down on the list.

Millions are out of work here in the States, so 66 programmers, being part of a project that I am overjoyed to see deceased, isn't really my prime concern. I would start with the struggling single mother downstairs who goes to school and works nites, then move out concentrically to the homeless vet down the street...

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

They deserve a moment of silence................

but not from me, them dweebs had it coming.:o:

[celery 8]

Enron was a U.S energy company that held the state of California hostage to charge higher fees and eventually started turning power off.

Well at the end of the day I'm a consumer so my only real concern is quality of end-product and ethical business practice in my beloved hobby. Any loss of work is unfortunate and I do not wish that on anyone really, excepting the criminally deceptive - but if your looking for sympathy for those programmers, they're pretty far down on the list.

Millions are out of work here in the States, so 66 programmers, being part of a project that I am overjoyed to see deceased, isn't really my prime concern. I would start with the struggling single mother downstairs who goes to school and works nites, then move out concentrically to the homeless vet down the street...

Considering that Codemasters isn't forcing a monopoly on the tactical shooter market, I find it disturbing that you see the lost livelyhoods of 66 people as an acceptable side effect of Codemasters discontinuing the making of games that have but a miniscule impact on your life outside slagging them off in appropriate forum threads.

[Maio 293]

I share Celery's views on this. Hope those guys find work soon.

[Uglyboy 10]

Considering that Codemasters isn't forcing a monopoly on the tactical shooter market, I find it disturbing that you see the lost livelyhoods of 66 people as an acceptable side effect of Codemasters discontinuing the making of games that have but a miniscule impact on your life outside slagging them off in appropriate forum threads.

Still i think him slagging the games off and enjoying the sinking of the brand has a even more miniscule impact on those 66 people, if my favorite football team or whatever wins a game i'm not sad because the opponent coach trainer whatever might be fired next year.

[jblackrupert 14]

you need to learn to read. Nobody is celebrating 66 people losing their jobs.