Gears of War: E-Day Developers Reportedly Fear Layoffs After Months of Crunch
Staff at The Coalition expect potential redundancies once production wraps on the upcoming release.
Developers at The Coalition are facing widespread fears of job cuts following months of intense overtime to finish Gears of War: E-Day, according to a report by Eurogamer.
Staff at Microsoft's dedicated Gears studio spent five years developing the project. While workers previously felt protected from the company's prior rounds of job reductions due to the profile of the game, that security eroded during a demanding final stretch of overtime as production wound down.
Sources inside the studio described an anxious internal culture leading up to launch. "The mood is certainly 'let's not celebrate the game until we're three months post launch, just in case', which is very unusual," one source said. Another developer stated that employees are bracing for the next wave of cuts or a studio reorganization under Activision later this year. The concerns follow plans announced earlier this year by Xbox head Asha Sharma to eliminate 3,200 roles across the organization.
