Layoffs hit Rare following Kinect Sports Rivals flop

[Dr. Pezus]

Microsoft-owned developer Rare has suffered layoffs after the release of Xbox One exclusive Kinect Sports Rivals failed to set tills alight, Eurogamer can reveal.

Multiple, separate sources indicated to Eurogamer that the studio, which has focused on the Kinect Sports series in recent years, had recently suffered layoffs.

A Microsoft spokesperson issued Eurogamer the following statement this afternoon:

"At Xbox, our goal is to constantly create new fun, social and interactive entertainment experiences. As part of Rare's commitment to this goal, we have made a decision to change our development process and methodology at Rare to best support our future projects, this has led to us reviewing the skills and the makeup of our development teams in our business.

"Rare continues to invest in our people and future projects."

While Microsoft did not confirm how many people had been let go, Eurogamer understands the number is around 16, a figure one source said was made up of some software staff, but mainly design and project managers. Kinect Sports Rivals was a 150 person project.

Microsoft also declined to explain why the changes were made, but the sales performance of the recently-released Kinect Sports Rivals may have played a part. It had been intended as an Xbox One launch title, but was delayed to April. When it did release, it entered the UK all-formats chart in 14th place. One source indicated to Eurogamer Rare suffered a significant loss on the project.

Full article here: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-05-19-layoffs-hit-rare-following-kinect-sports-rivals-flop

[7H3]

hmm very interesting... blame the flop on the studio not the concept the studio was forced to create by those in charge...

[Legend]

It's normal for some people to be let go after a project is finished. Unless an ex employee comes out and explains what happened, we'll really never know what the true cause of this was. Seems silly to jump to conclusions.

[7H3]

It's normal for some people to be let go after a project is finished. Unless an ex employee comes out and explains what happened, we'll really never know what the true cause of this was. Seems silly to jump to conclusions.

isn't that usually when they've taken on extra people for a specific project? also the wording from the MS PR statement makes it sound like that wasn't necessarily the case in this matter.

[ethomaz]

Rare was a great studio... yeap we need to go back almost 10 years to see they were really great.

Now my biased part... MS killed Rare... make a Studio with the know-how of Rare to work with Kinect is hold the studio potential.

It is no surprise for me that almost all guys that made Rare great left the Studio.

[Dr. Pezus]

Apparently they let some of the few remaining old-Rare members go

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

^^ that sucks, might as well change the name, as its not rare any more.

[Raven]

Rare wasn't even Rare anymore by the time Microsoft bought them. The last remnants of what Rare was are gone. It will never be the same. The talent that the studio had is long gone. The fact that Kinect Sports Rivals had 150 people on the project is another example of what I've been saying for a long time. Microsoft is terribly inefficient with their studios. How in the hell did something like that take that many people? It wasn't a big game at all.

[Legend]

Rare wasn't even Rare anymore by the time Microsoft bought them. The last remnants of what Rare was are gone. It will never be the same. The talent that the studio had is long gone. The fact that Kinect Sports Rivals had 150 people on the project is another example of what I've been saying for a long time. Microsoft is terribly inefficient with their studios. How in the heck did something like that take that many people? It wasn't a big game at all.

Did you know the recent Assassin Creed games are made by about 1,000 people? Yet Infamous Second Son was only about 80 people. The difference is that AC is made in a year, while Infamous took a few years.

If Microsoft wanted Rivals to get out ASAP to be at Xbox One launch, a 150 person team would make sense.

[ethomaz]

If Microsoft wanted Rivals to get out ASAP to be at Xbox One launch, a 150 person team would make sense.

That just shows how unprepared MS was for the new generation and that Kotaku's article saying "6 months behind in the software front" was right.

[Raven]

Did you know the recent Assassin Creed games are made by about 1,000 people? Yet Infamous Second Son was only about 80 people. The difference is that AC is made in a year, while Infamous took a few years.

If Microsoft wanted Rivals to get out ASAP to be at Xbox One launch, a 150 person team would make sense.

Yet it not only missed the launch but the launch window as well. It went from November 22nd to April 8th. That's over 4 months late. To have that many people on a game criticized for lacking a lot of content that ends up missing its original date by over 120 days is ridiculous. The fact that they ever had that many people on the project to begin with is silly. It was a waste of resources they could have spent making another game. You could argue that Microsoft wanted to get out as many games as possible to boost the usefulness of Kinect but then I'd ask what the hell Microsoft expected with a whopping two Kinect-exclusive games for what may very well be the whole year. They would have been better off scaling back the team and just focus on getting the game out for the 2014 holidays.

[Dr. Pezus]

Did you know the recent Assassin Creed games are made by about 1,000 people? Yet Infamous Second Son was only about 80 people. The difference is that AC is made in a year, while Infamous took a few years.

If Microsoft wanted Rivals to get out ASAP to be at Xbox One launch, a 150 person team would make sense.

You sure about that? I thought they had two teams, so 2 years per team

[Dr. Pezus]

That just shows how unprepared MS was for the new generation and that Kotaku's article saying "6 months behind in the software front" was right.

Let's be honest, though. That game seemed way over-budget. It won't ever make its money back. I wonder why they spent so much effort on the graphics...

[7H3]

IW was only around 100 people in its hay day (pre-respawn) and was making COD every two years or rather closer to about a year and half dev cycle I imagine

[darkknightkryta]

IW was only around 100 people in its hay day (pre-respawn) and was making COD every two years or rather closer to about a year and half dev cycle I imagine

The "Joys" of working 100 hours a week.  I still don't know how devs do it.  3 year dev time is the only reasonable amount of time.  I actually think the two year dev cycle (Wouldn't be surprised if the majority of a game is done in a year) is what caused development budgets to spiral out of control.