Hudson layoffs target mobile division, half of total staff

21 Comments by James Ransom-Wiley Nov 29th 2007 5:22PM
Filed under: Business, Mobile

Hudson Entertainment, the North American branch of Hudson Soft, today cut its workforce in half, laying off as many as 35 employees from its failing mobile division, Next-Gen reports. The Redwood Shores-based company staffed 50-70 workers before today's downsizing, which apparently caught those affected "off guard." There are "lots of unhappy people" at Hudson today, a source told Next-Gen.

Hudson's mobile division has struggled to gain support from major carriers like Verizon and Cingular. Projects that sought to develop new ideas and port existing mobile games from Japan were reportedly "shot down." An official statement from Hudson is pending.

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Silent Xenocide: Nov 29th 2007; 5:28PM

Bomberman 64 was pretty good I think.

Mr Khan: Nov 29th 2007; 6:18PM

I did too

Departing from the traditional game play (even in battle mode) didn't hurt the game at all, it just made it more of a game of skill than a "think on your feet"

It was still a blast

Blast Processing Megadrive: Nov 29th 2007; 9:49PM

Bomberman 64: The Second Attack! was really awesome. I liked it more than the first.

And I actually liked the 1P-only Bomberman Hero. It was compltetely different, sure. But I had fun.

milestailsprowe: Nov 29th 2007; 5:29PM

beside's bomberman does hudson even make games anymore?

Blast Processing Megadrive: Nov 29th 2007; 5:42PM

They make Mario Party.

SoulBlade: Nov 29th 2007; 5:30PM

Always sad to hear something like this. Hopefully they won't have problems finding a new job. I'm sure the talented ones won't have an issue.

Todd: Nov 29th 2007; 5:30PM

Yeah Merry Christmas to you Hudson employees! Jeez couldn't they at least waited until the new year?

My wife loved the two Bomberman Gamecube games and I'm still hoping for a Bomberman adventure on the Wii.

Chris: Nov 29th 2007; 5:30PM

Bomberman....now with breast physics.

ThornedVenom: Nov 29th 2007; 8:18PM

That'd be the bomb! /pun

danny.: Nov 29th 2007; 5:42PM

I have Bomberman on my cingular (the new AT&T) phone. I guess that wasn't enough to keep them in buisness...

MGSLOL: Nov 29th 2007; 9:48PM

You mean... as soon as you (yes! YOU!) purchased their Bomberman game, the business didn't magically turn a profit?!

danny.: Nov 30th 2007; 9:31AM

you found the point. grats.

Marty: Nov 29th 2007; 5:49PM

Mobile games (on phones, not DS or PSP) are a failed venture anyway. They charge too much for them, they drain your phone's battery, and I've yet to play a game on any phone that I have owned that is easy to play using the phone's buttons.

gonk: Nov 29th 2007; 6:09PM

the only cell phone games I've played were the default ones that came with it, and even then it's only like 1 time a year when I'm real bored but am stuck somewhere

Undead Priest: Nov 29th 2007; 6:00PM

What a dick move.

djSyndrome: Nov 29th 2007; 6:44PM

Yeah, it really sucks to let go an arm of a company that isn't making any money. Better to let them take the whole ship down instead.

Undead Priest: Nov 29th 2007; 10:24PM

Because firing people before Christmas isn't a complete "Hey, fuck you" moment, and completely doesn't show that the company didn't value them.

Silent Xenocide: Nov 29th 2007; 6:25PM

I hope they got some sort of nice parting bonus. Sucks to be fired right before christmas.

Blast Processing Megadrive: Nov 29th 2007; 7:00PM

Well, I'm quite sure they won't be getting the usual company holiday gift: bombs.

Mr Khan: Nov 29th 2007; 7:17PM

Their severence package is a Saturn and a copy of Saturn Bomberman per employee

bVork: Nov 29th 2007; 9:37PM

I'd care more about Hudson if they would FIX THE BOMBERMAN LIVE GLITCHES! They had time to pump out two DLC packs but not fix the issues that make it next to impossible to play half a dozen matches without running into a game ruining glitch at least once.

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