Unannounced Turok Sequel Canceled, Dev Lays Off 70

[DoctorFinger]

The latest company to be hit by the economic avalanche is Disney Interactive, and the casualties include a previously unannounced sequel to Turok.

Propaganda Games, the Vancouver based developer of the last Turok game is laying off 70 employees, apparently as a consequence of Turok 2 being canned by Disney. Propaganda still has one unnamed title in development.

Source - Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5142204/update-layoffs-hit-disney-interactive-turok-sequel-canceled).

[Adam Blue]

I don't have to tell you what I think.

[fitbabits]

While I feel bad for those people laid off, I can't say I'm surprised.

If you're going to revive a somewhat revered franchise like Turok, then you'd better make sure it's at least halfway decent and isn't crippled by the problems evident in Turok.

When one of the most respected publications in the UK (gamesTM) calls your game "clichéd, generic, bland, boring and infuriating," then you know something went wrong, and no amount of fan(boy) bleating is going to make any difference to the bean counters at Disney.

[MagGnome]

These layoffs are almost always sad, regardless of where they occur.

Rumor has it my own department will be restructuring everyone's schedules next week. We are all very nervous.

[TrackZero]

While I feel bad for those people laid off, I can't say I'm surprised.

If you're going to revive a somewhat revered franchise like Turok, then you'd better make sure it's at least halfway decent and isn't crippled by the problems evident in Turok.

When one of the most respected publications in the UK (gamesTM) calls your game "clichéd, generic, bland, boring and infuriating," then you know something went wrong, and no amount of fan(boy) bleating is going to make any difference to the bean counters at Disney.

True. That said, it's not a comment on everyone working there. Certainly the game designers and managers are more responsible than the guy on the ground. If you're a map designer/texture artist/QA etc, you're not responsible for many of the problems present, yet you're losing your job as well.

As always (hate saying that), hope they land on their feet.

[Purple Santa]

Turok actually sold enough that it warranted a sequel? I have no words.

I feel for those who are losing their jobs. Hope all works out for you too Mr. Gnome...

[CES]

If you're going to revive a somewhat revered franchise like Turok, then you'd better make sure it's at least halfway decent and isn't crippled by the problems evident in Turok.



Or, you know, actually basing it off the franchise and not just stomping it over a new game. Damn shame about the jobs though.

[fitbabits]

Or, you know, actually basing it off the franchise and not just stomping it over a new game. Damn shame about the jobs though.
Well, there's that as well, I suppose.

[bean]

While I feel bad for those people laid off, I can't say I'm surprised.

If you're going to revive a somewhat revered franchise like Turok, then you'd better make sure it's at least halfway decent and isn't crippled by the problems evident in Turok.

When one of the most respected publications in the UK (gamesTM) calls your game "clichéd, generic, bland, boring and infuriating," then you know something went wrong, and no amount of fan(boy) bleating is going to make any difference to the bean counters at Disney.
I agree completely.

Even if they were under a time crunch, there were many design decisions made in that game that were simply terrible. It didn't feel like the designers failed to complete the game; instead, it felt like they did a terrible job designing it.

Maybe it was designed by committee or maybe they simply had no business working as game designers.

The infuriating part for me is that even the people who worked on a terrible game like this now are out there with better resumes than my own. A potential employer is far more likely to hire an experienced (even if provenly bad) designer than someone brand new.

Which again, if the game was designed or limited in design by suits, is not their fault. I often see terrible games come out and I can't believe anyone who is a gamer would actually design them that way. Surely their whole design team couldn't be stupid, so it has to be a handful of people in the business bureaucracy working together to sink a project before it even begins (unknowingly).

[Xerxes]

Why announce that and unannounced games is being canceled?

[Widgetcraft]

The latest company to be hit by the economic avalanche is Disney Interactive, and the casualties include a previously unannounced sequel to Turok.

Propaganda Games, the Vancouver based developer of the last Turok game is laying off 70 employees, apparently as a consequence of Turok 2 being canned by Disney. Propaganda still has one unnamed title in development.

Source - Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5142204/update-layoffs-hit-disney-interactive-turok-sequel-canceled).

Don't play the bad economy card on this one. Shitty company makes a shitty game, gets shitty sales, and then money is lost. That is the way things should work when things are going right.

[DoctorFinger]

Don't play the bad economy card on this one. Shitty company makes a shitty game, gets shitty sales, and then money is lost. That is the way things should work when things are going right.Because God knows that up until this point every company which ever made a shitty, under performing game went tits up :rolleyes:

This is, in large part, due to the economy. 3 years ago Disney could afford to roll the dice on a Turok sequel in the hopes that it irons out the kinks in the original and becomes a good, popular series. Now they just can't afford to look that far ahead.

[Xerxes]

I'm finding some likable parts in the game, but I'm still turned off on the space marines on a planet with dinosaurs. Yes I know about the terra forming aspect but that's eve more stupid.

[Johan]

They should have let the IP die with Acclaim, rather than cranking out this crap.

[Widgetcraft]

Because God knows that up until this point every company which ever made a shitty, under performing game went tits up :rolleyes:

As I said: This is the way things should work.