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Joystiq

Report: Aspyr lays off majority of staff

by Justin McElroy on Dec 10th 2009 4:50PM

In what's apparently the latest game industry victim of a down economy, Big Download reports that, according to its sources, Austin, Texas-based publisher Aspyr has laid off more than 50 percent of its employees. Though you likely recognize the Aspyr name from its PC-to-Mac ports, the company recently published the Call of Duty Classic port on XBLA and PSN, as well as Fighting Fantasy and Treasure World on DS.

We've been in contact with Aspyr in attempt to clarify the situation over there. We'll keep you posted.

Source

Tags: aspyr, call-of-duty-classic, layoffs, mac, Microsoft, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (30)

I wish those employees and their families the best.

Agreed, hopefully the good ones can find work at a good studio.

May the rest just find good work.

Aspyr sucked their pc ports were so slow and choppy.

Yes, for the sake of their families, lest hope the ex-Aspyr employees find work with a company that doesn't make sad ports.

What is it, 'terminate all employees' day?

How many times have you been asked if a glass is half full or half empty and you simply responded
"It's full".

50%=/= all.

Good heavens, it's hyperbole.

Gracious hell, it's sarcasm.

I reply with, "Who cares... wait, is that vodka in the glass? Cause if it is, that glass is about to be all empty."

And I was told the recession was beginning to dissipate.

Growth != jobs.

I don't always buy into this recession stuff. Where I worked food prices were going up, hours were being cut, raises were getting smaller and smaller, and yet the store itself was making more money January February this year than it did last year.

I think a lot of times it has to do not with the company losing money, but with a company making less profits. It could be a greedy CEO or owner wanting more cash in his pocket, or it could just be a preemptive move to stop them from being in the negatives, but it doesn't exactly mean a company is dying or trying to beat a recession.

@sonicspike

I agree. Sometimes it seems to me like companies use the recession as an excuse to lay people off without looking bad. Can't say for sure, or for all companies. Just my 2 cents.

"Where I worked food prices were going up, hours were being cut, raises were getting smaller and smaller, and yet the store itself was making more money January February this year than it did last year."
You pretty much just explained why the store was making more money. Less hours, less employees, less payment.
Also, if you work at a reasonably priced place (as in, not Ruths Chris), then more people are looking for cheaper food, or home cooked meals, will flock to the cheaper store to save money themselves.

Well I mean before all the costs were taken out. Their income was up before everything was taken out. Also, the place was busier compared to when I started there (spring of '07 compared to spring of '09).

My point though is that even though a company is making more money overall, sometimes they still implement changes and blame it on the economy. I can't speak for every company or location however, and obviously this could just be something that happened only at the company I worked for.

Where I work (part-time) we usually rake in the same amount. However, some of my friends have been "let go" which was very disappointing. Considering we're all high school students, it doesn't matter much, but still kinda sucks.

It just keeps coming.

That's what she said!

So what, do all the employees have Aspergers?

@Darth

Will you get up voted or down voted?

Depends on whether or not your "reply" post gets to his thread.

the recession just took a while longer to hit austin for some reason. my job was "secure" a few months ago, now its not looking too good.

As a Mac user this is bad news. They brought some great games to the platform. I wish them luck in their future endeavors.

Indeed. Mac gamers already have it bad enough, now our major champion is all but gone.

I had a feeling this was in the works when EA handled The Sims 3 for Mac themselves (rather than letting Aspyr do it). To lose such a huge franchise can be devastating for a company.

How does the company that put out Call of Duty Classic fail! even if it was released 2 weeks earlier ahead of MW2 it could of sold much better. It was barley advertised as well. Couldn't find any reviews for awhile.

Two years of Obama unemployment checks in their future

I was a part of those layoffs, and was one of the main developers on Call of Duty Classic. It's a rough time for everyone involved, but thankfully most of us have found some time with our families or lined up interviews so far.

As for porting in general, sometimes what a developer has to work with is the original code base and tools, and we can't just magically make something work better because hardware is better. Some older systems would require an entire redesign or worse to make it run better on newer machines and take advantage of newer technologies. Some games have old architecture, we really do the best we can within the confines of what we can do and have to work with.

Thanks for the kind words guys, most of us are doing fine given the circumstances.

Best of luck to you. It's a shame, despite folks comments above, there were some key mac ports you guys did (MW1 being an example). I hope you find something soon.

Fighting Fantasy is one of the best RPGs out on the DS. I wish them the best of luck

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Breaking News

Report: Aspyr lays off majority of staff

Reader Comments (30)

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 4:54PM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:32PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 6:51PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 9:45PM bioadam said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 4:55PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 4:57PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 4:58PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:25PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:31PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 4:57PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:00PM Jeff Kibuule said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:35PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:38PM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:47PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 6:53PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 6:55PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 4:58PM brobot said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:03PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:09PM phizzyphizzy said

Posted: Dec 10th 2009 5:11PM Bubbameister33 said

Posted: Dec 11th 2009 9:01PM shadowj0 said

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Posted: Dec 10th 2009 6:21PM MarkHawk said

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Posted: Dec 10th 2009 7:29PM Kingsly said

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