Man, the gaming industry is crazy.
Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
111–120 of 197 posts
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is some small amount of protection involved. They have to offer COBRA (I'm not sure about a company going belly up) at the same rate they pay. Which means you get a negotiated rate. I've done this and it's fucking expensive but it works. The shit part is that small companies are exempt, which makes sense but can still suck. I am also not sure what happens if the company is filing bankruptcy or not. So maybe the…
Which is better than absolutely nothing, but now you have to pay the full company rate, which is usually much higher than someone who now doesn't have a job can afford.
I'm not saying it's good or the right solution, but there is something there. I just think it's fair to point out that they have an option even if it does suck.
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#113This studio closure hits a little close to me, since I know a few former employees: - They really did not see a full studio closure coming so suddenly. Yes, they were aware that they were struggling, but the 25% staff reduction was supposed to keep the studio sustainable. - They were in the planning stages for an original IP, their new leadership realized too late that expensive IP licenses were unsustainable. - Thei…
I wonder how many companies ever lay off 25% of staff and then actually come back to succeed? I can't really think of any examples off hand.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/08/29/1997-apple-bites-the-... . But yeah, not exactly common.
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t know where you work, but I can count on one finger the places where I actually knew the companies financial situation. You can try to guess based on sales and nr of employees, but it’s hardly an exact science.
If you're not a founder or investor it's not worth worrying about since there's little you can legally do to remedy/fix the situation...the question is at what point as an employee do you become complacent enough to see a lot of strange behavior and decide not to leave. IMO we give a lot of credit to these large companies and trust them to do right by us when they fire us/lay us off/we leave. I feel bad for all the p…
Is it an opportunity to start a side project with former TTG employees?
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think severance is normal or expected of any business teetering on insolvency.
Severance is "keep your mouth shut" money. If the company is tanking, there's no reason for it.
Well, in a cynical sense sure sometimes, but it's also the right thing to do
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#116Adventure games seems to be a segment that is especially prone to boom and bust cycles. This has to be at least the third major collapse, following Infocom and LucasArts. Even when well executed, the formula is hard to keep fresh, and the emphasis on story and writing leads to generally poor replayability. Particularly now, in the youtube/twitch age - most of the enjoyment of these kinds of games is watching the stor…
I think a big problem with the adventure game segment is it's extremely content heavy. There's not really any replay ability; so as soon as the content wears thin your players leave. Admittedly that's true of most game genres, but then there's other types of games like idk, counterstrike or minecraft, where people can keep continuing with the same content for a loooong time because the novelty comes from the interactions.
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the US, we have unemployment compensation insurance for that purpose. I believe you can collect unemployment even if the employer is insolvent, because it's pre-paid by the employer, and comes out of a collective fund. As I understand it, a severance usually involves the employee signing some sort of agreement.
Unemployment insurance in California maxes out at $450/week, pre-tax. It can help you draw down your savings more slowly, but by itself is not even enough to make rent. The numbers may have made sense before the latest bout of housing price and wage inflation, but they don't anymore.
There are still places in California where it's possible to rent for <$1800/mo.
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#118Is severance normal at a startup or a game studio? I would think first priority would be contractual obligations (payroll, contractual severance, vendors, etc.) and then only then severance.
It can be, if layoffs are happening. From what I know, LucasArts employees got a nice bonus when Disney it shut down. Some other companies I worked at also have given it out, though it depends on how dire things are.
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unemployment insurance in California maxes out at $450/week, pre-tax. It can help you draw down your savings more slowly, but by itself is not even enough to make rent. The numbers may have made sense before the latest bout of housing price and wage inflation, but they don't anymore.
There are still places in California where it's possible to rent for <$1800/mo.
what a bargin
Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unemployment insurance in California maxes out at $450/week, pre-tax. It can help you draw down your savings more slowly, but by itself is not even enough to make rent. The numbers may have made sense before the latest bout of housing price and wage inflation, but they don't anymore.
There are still places in California where it's possible to rent for <$1800/mo.
Right, but who's renting them when they're on an engineer's salary? You can't just up and move instantly upon finding out you're in the unemployment line.