Seems fairly normal.. probably testers and QA types and probably a few extra programmers that were brought on to finish the project..

So, Dyack rants and raves about how socially irresponsible it is to hire contract workers, and then cops to hiring full-time workers for a single project and only keeping them around until that project is finished? Yes, that's much better than those evil companies that outsource their work.

I think he's made it pretty clear that he's against all forms of outsourcing, overseas or otherwise. Here's one of his quotes in a gamasutra interview:

And another one:

And it's fine to have moral convictions like that, but he's been really vocal about this and has publicly criticized other companies over it, so I do think it's kind of annoying that they're now blowing off these layoffs as just a natural result of the project the people were hired for being finished.

I'm not trying to be bombastic or overly angry at all, but I do think it's inconsistent to criticize other companies for getting work on a project-by-project basis and then turn around and do the same thing yourself. If they had at least acknowledged that it went against the philosophies they've espoused in the past it wouldn't rankle me, but the fact that they are treating it like a normal thing made me feel like I just had to point out how disingenuous that is.

Having to let people go because your game didn't perform is different than hiring a contractor and dropping them the moment the project is out the door. Too Human has been out for months, it's irresponsible for a company to keep everyone on if they can't afford to pay them all. If you have to make the unfortunate decision of letting people go or watching your company spiral into a debt it can't climb out of, you do what you have to do. Ideals don't pay the bills and this doesn't even go against what he spoke of a few months ago.

As for the bombast, I was referring to Lobster, not your post.

UI is mostly based on how long you worked prior to being layed off. So, if they were just brought on the finish TH, they're likely getting nothing or next to nothing.

EI only pays you a small portion of what you were making and like Morro said, it all depends on how long you were employed. I've been on EI before and trust me when I say that the time off usually consists of deciding which bills you are going to let lapse this month.

As others have said, things like this aren't uncommon and the assumption also seems to be that these layoffs were unplanned or that the people had no idea they were coming, neither of which has been confirmed. What has been confirmed however is that these layoffs are temporary, meaning they likely were low level positions that were only relevant at certain times in the development process. They current have at least two projects in development and both are in the very early stages so some late stage positions just wouldn't be needed right now. Silicon Knights has almost 200 people on staff so this isn't a huge reduction and isn't a sign of any impending collapse of the company. The only reason this got any press at all (even though it happens in the industry every day) is because it is Silicon Knights and it gives press outlets who were offended by Dyack (which is to say, most of them) a little schadenfreude.

If we were Kotaku, this would've gotten us 10,000 hits. I'm just underappreciated here.

More seriously, yeah, it might be irresponsible and silly of me to make a big deal over this, but I'm not a journalist or a business owner. As other people with better minds and more level heads than mine have pointed out, there is at least something to this. Dyack seems to have said he wasn't going to hire/fire people for development cycles and his reversal on that could indicate some sort of trouble. As I said, people losing their jobs is never a good thing.

So excuse me for friending it up a bit.

INSANE FOUNDER OF GAMERS WITH JOBS BLASTS FAITHFUL READER/FAN IN ONLINE FLAMEFEST, MASS EXODUS FROM FORUM ENSUES! more after the jump

Oh come now, there's only one person to blame for a flamefest and that's the guy who's been spreading the gas around, the one who made this thread.

...

Uh oh.

Just illustrates the wrongness of his points really. Blasting outsourcing, especially in this business is archaic anyway. Game development consists of various stages, requiring different people with different skillsets quite often. If company has to keep them all on payroll, it means it has to have multiple projects in various stages to use them efficiently. Big companies like EA can leverage that but small to middle sized cant.
Nowdays even outsourcing companies are outsourcing (I`ve been subcontractor myself quite often) to stay efficient. Plus, there are companies that offer services for just about any stage of the dev process. Since the Bloodlines thread has resurfaced, they`re the first that come to mind. That gorgeous concept art Vampire: The Masquarade had? Not done in-house. Not to use those resources is just plain dumb.
Look at Hollywood, they`ve used that model for ages and are faring well. There are special effects houses, there are writers, there are actors, whatever - studios dont keep them on perma-payroll, they just use their services when need arises. Studio is more like a magnet with deep pockets that attracts the right kinds of people to the right kind of project and once the work is done, they part.
And whats with the hate for foreign outsourcing? It`s talent-driven industry, you dont choose someone because he`s charging five bucks less per hour. You choose him because you think this particular talent is better fit for project than the one next door. Besides, the crazy outsourcing fashion wave has passed anyway, there`s too much trouble with indiscriminate outsourcing - language/culture barriers, scheduling problems etc. Chinese sweatshops with thousands of artists turned out to be ineffective and stuff often had to be redone in-house just because product turned to be too different culturally. Same with code - you want it to be commented and want some documentation with it which means language matters.

Historically, entertainment does very well during hard times. The movie industry took off during the Great Depression. People need that escapism more than ever.

Bombastic Lobster...

What an awesome band name!

I liked Too Human.... I actually like a gigantic majority of Silicon Knights games. (Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, Too Human)

Wait, Dyack claimed that Too Human was done entirely in-house? That can't be true, I know people who did external contract work on Too Human.