Mark Jacobs' departure leaves Mythic employees 'shocked'
Continuing its coverage of the Mythic / BioWare merger announced earlier today, Massively reports that Mythic employees were taken aback by the departure of studio head Mark Jacobs. An anonymous Mythic employee told Massively, "I can't even fathom Mark leaving a company he loved so much, it was his life. Personally, I can't see that this is voluntary in any shape or form."
As for the merger itself, the employee stated that the staffs of both studios were informed of the decision this morning. Employees were assured that no one was being let go, and Massively's source said that all employees of both companies were heading to a movie theater this afternoon to be addressed by new Group General Manager Ray Muzyka.
When asked if Jacobs' departure might be related to the subscription numbers of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the source stated, "The numbers aren't that bad, and last I heard the numbers were back on the rise," adding, "I know the game was making money."
Overall, the source said that the mood is positive at Mythic, expressing that "a lot of people" at the studio would like to work on Star Wars: The Old Republic. The source concluded by saying that the employees of Mythic "will continue to go on without their fearless leader."
As for the merger itself, the employee stated that the staffs of both studios were informed of the decision this morning. Employees were assured that no one was being let go, and Massively's source said that all employees of both companies were heading to a movie theater this afternoon to be addressed by new Group General Manager Ray Muzyka.
When asked if Jacobs' departure might be related to the subscription numbers of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the source stated, "The numbers aren't that bad, and last I heard the numbers were back on the rise," adding, "I know the game was making money."
Overall, the source said that the mood is positive at Mythic, expressing that "a lot of people" at the studio would like to work on Star Wars: The Old Republic. The source concluded by saying that the employees of Mythic "will continue to go on without their fearless leader."












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Persian @ Jun 24th 2009 9:54PM
you are a traitor to your loyal fans that stuck with you since dark age of camelot
may you burn
CL34N3R @ Jun 24th 2009 9:58PM
Well that's not a snap judgment at all; you realize he was probably let go, right? Did you RTFA?
Persian @ Jun 24th 2009 10:05PM
pure bs
he jumped a sinking ship, he sold out to another company most likely
Ghen @ Jun 25th 2009 10:13AM
Well you obviously know less than the average person. How does it feel to be less than average?
LuckyEMS @ Jun 24th 2009 10:54PM
Overall, the source said that the mood is positive at Mythic, expressing that "a lot of people" at the studio would like to work on Star Wars: The Old Republic.
and the employee's at BioWare were depressed hoping they didn't have to work on Warhammer
Samael @ Jun 24th 2009 11:37PM
I am seriously hoping BioWare does not have to take time away from TOR to help WAR, now that would suck.
Lov3 @ Jun 24th 2009 10:57PM
When will studios learn to stop making WoW clones? Maintainance costs crushed Blizzard in the first 4 months and they were bought out by Vivendi. All the old dev teams for all Blizzard IPs were gradually laid off after the announcement. History is repeating. Stop making money sinks of dubious quality hoping to emulate their current success, cos it ain't gonna happen.
Chris Mahoney @ Jun 24th 2009 11:47PM
"All the old dev teams for all Blizzard IPs were gradually laid off "
Are you sure about that?
BrainDamaged @ Jun 25th 2009 1:58PM
All your facts are wrong.. Blizzard was part of Vivendi way before WOW came out. Not sure how you know that "maintenance costs crushed Blizzard when WOW came out". From my point of view it was not enough servers for the demand of the game. They hired AT&T for their server maintenance and backbone which had one of the best infrastructures on the net at that time.
If by "all the old dev teams" you mean Blizzard North.. they were not laid off.. most of them left the company due to creative differences. They started their own company and put out Hellgate which flopped and the company no longer exists.
smcn @ Jun 25th 2009 12:28PM
You forgot to mention jet fuel can't burn hot enough to melt steel!!!!!!!!!!1111
Kyera @ Jun 25th 2009 8:43AM
WAR would be a pretty solid game if it were launching in September '09 instead of September '08. It's come a long way since launch and a number of people that I know of are giving it another shot (and quite a few sticking), though there are a number of people that are already "burnt out" on the game.
I like it, but it's still got a lot of room for improvement and a fair bit that it can learn from Dark Age of Camelot.
Dark Age of Camelot II: Knights of the Old Roundtable inc?
Chas Winterbottom @ Jun 25th 2009 4:08PM
Ever wonder what a fired studio head looks like? W'BAM! There it is!
Persian @ Jun 25th 2009 4:14PM
{i've been banned}