In a surprising newsletter this evening, Storybricks announced that it will be closing its doors.
Mostly known for their recent work on EverQuest Next's AI with Sony Online Entertainment, the studio cites that the decision was their own and "Sony Online Entertainment (now Daybreak Games) bears no fault for it. Sony Online Entertainment had been up for sale for a long time so our exit had no connection with the Columbus Nova acquisition."
Daybreak Games has announced a general maintenence affecting all their games:
Attention players: we will perform a general maintenance beginning at 7:00AM Pacific on Tuesday, February 24th. The current estimated downtime for this maintenance is up to three hours.
This maintenance may impact the following Daybreak services across all games:
- Commerce functions, including purchases, for all games
- Game logins
- Web and forum logins for all Daybreak sites, including account creation
Thank you for your patience as we complete this maintenance.
Here's our handy Time Zone Conversation Tool to help you plan.
I suppose there’s only one thing to talk about this week.
Sony Online Entertainment broke away from its parent company to become Daybreak Game Company, thanks to investment from Columbus Nova.
As is the all too common and incredibly unfortunate nature of deals like these, the company had to let some people go. When costs are too high for projected revenue, tough decisions have to be made. The important thing to remember in times like these is that it’s people making these decisions, and these decisions affect people.
For all that we care about the games (which is less than the current and former employees of Daybreak, by the way), what this means to us as players is insignificant compared to what it means to the people whose lives were affected.
I want to take a moment to state that I am in full support of the talented, passionate people still at Daybreak, their amazing work continues to inspire me, and I have complete faith they will continue to blow us away.
UPDATE, Feb 12th: Thanks to everyone who has reached out to us regarding this news. I doubt we'll get an exhaustive list, but it's obvious that the community team, producers and developers were all hit pretty hard. You can contact us at news@zam.com or directly to @Cyliena on Twitter if you have more information.
One year ago I took the above picture of a smiling Linda "Brasse" Carlson, the Director of Community Relations, in her expertly handmade dwarven regalia, on the Sony Online Entertainment campus.
About an hour ago the first confirmed layoff from the transition to Daybreak Games hit, with Linda posting on Facebook that "I have been released from the best and most challenging job I have ever had. I thank you all for being part of that incredible experience. Too many people to thank personally, but know that I am extraordinarily grateful and very curious where life takes me now."
Linda isn't the only one affected. EverQuest franchise Director of Development Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson has confirmed now on Twitter that he was laid off. EverQuest II artist Aaron "Gnobrin" Bisnett has also confirmed that he is gone, and we've been told that Systems Designer Akil "Lyndro" Hooper (confirmed now) from EQ/EQ2 has been let go as well.
Also confirmed are Adam "Ngreth" Bell (EQ dev) (x), Tiffany "Amnerys" Spence (Community) (x), Racheal "Afista" McKenny (EQ2 Community) (x), Endymion (EQ2 dev) (x), Eric "Felgon" Smith (Landmark/EQNext producer) (x), Noah Watkins (H1Z1 artist) (x), Steve "Moorgard" Danuser (EQNext Lead Content/Story Designer) (x), Kelduum Revaan (H1Z1 Technical Designer) (x), Aimee "Ashlanne" Rekoske (Community) (x), David Carey (PS2 producer) (x), Jeffrey Bard (EQ2 dev) (x) and Michael "Xelgad" Ganz (EQ2 dev) (x). There are likely many more, but these are the only ones we publicly know of at this time; a list on Reddit has a few more names not mentioned here.
On Thursday, February 12th, both H1Z1 developer Ryan Elam (x) and PlanetSide 2 Creative Director Matt Higby announced their voluntary resignations.
Colette "Dexella" Murphey posted the company's official statement; here are the key points:
Last week we announced that we were acquired and are now operating independently as Daybreak Game Company.
Unfortunately, this realignment means adjusting staffing as well. We announced today that we will eliminate positions in our San Diego and Austin studios.
These reductions will not affect the operation of our current games and as mentioned above, will help better position our company for future success.
Daybreak's full statement is found after the jump. Tiffany "Amnerys" Spence has discussed turning over a new leaf on her blog, while former PlanetSide 2 producer David Carey posted an insightful public note to the community regarding the layoffs over on Reddit.
We wish the best to everyone involved.
Lindsay "geektr0n" Ferguson hosts ZAM's latest installment of Friday Update Arcade! Topics discussed include the DJ Sona skin in League of Legends, the company formerly known as Sony Online Entertainment, Darkest Dungeon, Ubisoft and the Persona 5 game trailer.
UPDATE: Linda "Brasse" Carlson confirmed there will be no convention this year. "For those asking about SOE Live: we are taking a hiatus from our annual Live event to shift our focus to our exciting transition and the future of Daybreak Game Company."
This morning, Sony Online Entertainment announced that it was acquired by a company called Columbus Nova and will be rebranded as "Daybreak Game Company." SOE will operate as an independant studio and will even branch out into the Xbox platform.
Sony Online Entertainment will perform maintenance beginning at 8:00 AM PST on Monday, January 12, 2015. This maintenance is expected to last about two hours. This will impact the following SOE services:
Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan.
Sony Online Entertainment has announced a maintenance affecting all games on December 16, 2014. The three-hour maintenance will start at 6:00am Pacific Time. This will impact the following SOE services:
Here's our handy Time Zone Conversion Tool to help you plan.
Sony Online Entertainment has announced a one-day double Station Cash sale on Black Friday! This Friday, November 28th, when you buy Station Cash on the web, in-game, or with an SOE Game Card, the amount of Station Cash you get will be doubled! Double Station Cash will only awarded between 12:00am PT (U.S.) to 11:59:59pm PT, so don’t miss out!
Naturaly there will be in-game Marketplace deals on Cyber Monday, and special deals for All-Access Members that have yet to be announced. Stay tuned over the weekend for more information!
Fine Print: Cyber Monday deals and All Access member benefits apply only to SOE titles currently included in All Access. Promotion does not include Landmark, Dragon’s Prophet, or DC Universe Online (PSN Version).
Sony Online Entertainment is undergoing an unannounced maintenance which is affecting forum logins and commerce across all platforms. Players already logged into forums will be unaffected. Game logins seem to be fine. We're told they are working to finish it as soon as possible, but it may take up to an hour.
9:57am Pacific: Commerce is now unlocked for all games. Login issues are still being worked on.
10:25am Pacific: Maintenance has been completed and everyone should be able to log in now.
