Realtime staff sacked via PA address

By Robert Purchese Published 20 August, 2010

New studio to rise from ashes - report.

The staff of Realtime Worlds were told whether they had lost their job via a PA system announcement, it has emerged.

"All the APB team – over a 100 people – were told to gather in a meeting room," a source told GamesIndustry.biz.

"And then the names of those who were being made redundant were read out over a microphone, and they had to leave the room one-by-one and collect their redundancy package."

But from the ashes of Realtime Worlds come claims that a new studio may arise - one to see social gaming project MyWorld through to a spring 2011 launch.

Administrator Begbies Taylor cited "considerable interest from potential buyers" this morning, and announced that 23 of the MyWorld team had been rehired. That's a polite way of saying 37 people (from the original team of 60) lost their jobs.

A source elaborated: "The entire MyWorld team was called in for a meeting yesterday, during which people found out who was being rehired. Afterwards, senior members of the team were told about the new deal and that it was just a matter finalising the paperwork."

Apparently, however, only one "serious" buyer has come forward for MyWorld. The plan is to keep the 23-strong team in Dundee in a deal that could be inked by the start of next week.

Realtime Worlds tumbled into administration earlier this week. APB was blamed, but the action MMO will live on and be supported by a core team until a new owner is found.

Defending APB, publisher EA said "sometimes games are too big".

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • kinky_mong #1 2 years ago

    Wow, that's cold!

  • InfiniteFury #2 2 years ago

    Good grief.

    "Right, everyone who's got a job take one step forward.....NOT YOU WIGGINS."
    Edited by InfiniteFury at 20/08/10 @ 14:19

  • Bitkari #3 2 years ago

    Feels bad man. :(

  • steve1979 #4 2 years ago

    That's a shitty way to sack someone.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #5 2 years ago

    It's as if this were done for a reality show.

  • MoGamer2006 #6 2 years ago

    Is this defo true? All sounds a bit Alan Partridge.

  • Bleemo #7 2 years ago

    Hah this reminds of when Alan Partridge pretended he'd got a second series to his staff then locked himself in his office and fired them over the speakerphone.

  • Zawath #8 2 years ago

    RTW executives must have watched a lot of American Idol.

  • kupocake #9 2 years ago

    A year ago, this would have been worthy of a Downfall parody.

  • TeaFiend #10 2 years ago

    Shit, that's terrible.

    :[

  • Hermiod #11 2 years ago

    Attention workers, we have completed our evaluation of the plant. We regret to announce the following lay-offs, which I will read in alphabetical order... Simpson, Homer. That is all.

  • smernicki #12 2 years ago

    Defending APB, publisher EA said "sometimes games are just a bit shit"

  • Mkwone #13 2 years ago

    It's like bingo

    Two little ducks, Micheal Bucks

    Two fat ladies Sarah and Zoe

  • PearOfAnguish #14 2 years ago

    "collect their redundancy package"

    Literally a package, which upon unwrapping was found to contain a turd and a note reading "You're Fired".

  • the_sas_man #15 2 years ago

    It's not a Tannoy - it's a public address system

    /Partridgeism
    Edited by the_sas_man at 20/08/10 @ 14:38

  • Darkedge #16 2 years ago

    EVERYONE who has been made redundant don't accept any deal get together and take them to an employment tribunal.
    Thats is totally unaccepatble and you should get damages for being treated so badly.

    Jesus christ.

  • BiffTanner #17 2 years ago

    Tannoys a brand name :p

    +1 to you sas man.

    Tho my feelings go out to the guys at rtw, an old clan mate used to work there till a few days ago, guess this is how it all ended
    Edited by BiffTanner at 20/08/10 @ 14:45

  • StarchildHypocrethes #18 2 years ago

    Holy smokes that's a harsh way to do it!

    I like it.

  • bratmandu #19 2 years ago

    Smaller games companies - more of them please. If the downloadable game market has taught us anything in the last few years it's that you don't need massive budget and hundreds of people to produce quality work. I could exist solely on steam/xbla/psn games and be very satisfied. Bedroom programmers will rise again!

  • woodnotes #20 2 years ago

    I was going to say "Alan Partridge!" but it seems everyone else already has.

  • optimusprym8 #21 2 years ago

    If this is true, it's absolutely fucking disgusting behaviour

  • cw- #22 2 years ago

    Not as bad as being sacked via text, like one company did a few years ago

  • JimWest #23 2 years ago

    That is horrific way of doing it, really feel for the guys. Even if the redundancies were going to happen there are much better and more compassionate ways of letting people know this information. Whoever decided on this course of action should feel ashamed of themselves, and serious questions should be asked of why they thought it was best way of doing it.

  • jeffgoldman #24 2 years ago

    So I'll be the first to confirm this. I'm an EX-RTW now, though the source is slightly wrong (or mistaken).

    They basically took us into the cafeteria area and turned on the PA system. They then told us 'We're now going to read a list of people who are not being made redundant. Please go to the boardroom if you hear your name'. Then they read out the list. Then they told the remaining 150 or so staff they were laid off and there was no money to pay them.

    As mentioned below, we have to claim statutory entitlement from the government. Which is fuck all and will take ages.
    Edited by jeffgoldman at 20/08/10 @ 15:33

  • Sir_TimAlot #25 2 years ago

    cunts

  • Crea #26 2 years ago

    Basically, they're going to sell MyWorld and use the proceeds to pay off the creditors (reported debts of £3m), which is the first duty of any administrator. There are different categories of debt, and I have no idea where the claims of former employees rank amongst them, but clearly it doesn't appear to be top, more's the pity. I imagine if they sold MyWorld for enough you'd get paid what you're due, but I doubt that'll happen, frankly. I'm guessing you're going to have to claim statutory entitlement from the government, a.k.a fuck all. On top of that it'll take fucking ages.

  • CHACK #27 2 years ago

    Atari did a similar thing about 9 years ago with its central marketing and UK marketing depts, Larry Sparks held a meeting about redundancies, we all gathered and were told that each person being made redundant would get a phoncall, so we trudged back to our desks and over the course of an hour or so one by one our phones started to ring, it was an open plan office so everyone could see and hear who's phone was ringing.

  • PlugMonkey #28 2 years ago

    @CHACK

    Do you feel that was better or worse than getting it all over and done with in 5 minutes in the cafeteria?

    Nasty business either way, but I'm failing to see how it's illegal or what you would be seeking damages for. There isn't really a nice way to tell hundreds of people they're losing their jobs. Kiss-o-grams maybe? Sky writing? Barber's shop quartet?

    Commiserations to jeffgoldman and everyone else finding themselves out of work. Crackdown was awesome. One of the high points of this generation.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #29 2 years ago

    Changed "tannoy" to "PA system" because it's more appropriate, as a few of you pointed out.

  • whoyouknow #30 2 years ago

    Dick move.

  • miiiguel #31 2 years ago

    Wow... very Kafkian.

  • Lawlost #32 2 years ago

    Sounded more like David Brent in the Office when he got his promotion

  • jeffgoldman #33 2 years ago

    You should also change 'collect their redundancy package'. There was no redundancy package. There was no pay for the last month. There was no crunch/overtime money. There is no money.

  • Sir_TimAlot #34 2 years ago

    maybe it should have been done like this...
    [link url=http://i37.tinypic.com/imi0c8.jpg
    ]http://i37.tinypic.com/imi0c8.jpg
    [/link]

  • darth_paul #35 2 years ago

    cowards. didnt have the cojones to say it face-to-face. coward execs

  • Rob_B #36 2 years ago

    @jeffgoldman - I hope at the very least you lot emptied the stationary cupboard on your way out!

  • Disgruntled_2010 #37 2 years ago

    On the MyWorld deal - "That's a polite way of saying 37 people (from the original team of 60) lost their jobs."

    37 people who were told there wasn't any buyer yet and people would be kept on so teh knowledge about how it worked would be kept in the company. Told that there were only 15 going to be kept on and sat in a meeting trying to work out a good 15. Told that the folk kept on had no gaurantee of jobs, and might be let go in 2 to 6 weeks. 37 people told another load of lies and dumped on the street with no money!

  • dirtysteve #38 2 years ago

    Cowardly, cowardly way to do it.

  • jeffgoldman #39 2 years ago

    @PlugMonkey

    I agree there is no nice way to tell 150 people that they no longer have jobs and will not be paid for their last month's service.

    However, there are nicer ways to do it than stand up in front of everyone and make the people staying feel awkward and the people leaving like cattle.

    But then, they are an administration company and just doing their job.

  • bendouglas #40 2 years ago

    JeffGoldman is correct, again an Ex RTW employee here and what happened was exactly as Jeff stated. However it wasn't just a 5 minute job. We were told we were going into Administation on Monday and that 170 people were now redundant then we were told to come in at 10am for a meeting on Tuesday to confirm the names of the people staying. It wasn't until about 4.30 we actually had the meeting. First it was 10am, then 11, then 11.30, then 1.30, then 2, then at 3 everyone moved through to the cantine where we waited until 4.30 for a little guy with a piece of paper and no tact to tell us what we already knew. Though it was nice hearing the QA department cheer for those of the team who were staying on, albeit only a couple.
    Edited by bendouglas at 20/08/10 @ 19:22

  • cnlfailure #41 2 years ago

    @jeffgoldman - I've been through a similar process that you'll go through with the government, and surprisingly the amount you get back isn't too bad at all. While it's not the same as having the job still, it isn't a smack in the face either and shows just what you've paid national insurance for.

  • mdeeRocks #42 2 years ago

    Absolutely dreadful. At leats they could do it with some dignity, but I figure, this is what you get if you work for arseholes.

  • arty #43 2 years ago

    It's because administrators are wankers.
    Edited by arty at 20/08/10 @ 20:11

  • hobojebus #44 2 years ago

    Yeah very very poor way to treat emplyee's, would it have been so hard to call people into an office instead of gathering them in a room to watch each other get fired.

    I'm sorry these people lost their jobs because their bosses pissed away 101m.

  • byakuya83 #45 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 10:03:41 30-03-2012

  • erp #46 2 years ago

    Unbelievable. Doing it over a PA system like that is terribly bad form. I agree with other posters, it's just incredibly cowardly.

    I'm happy, and somewhat humbled, to say that when this happened at Free Radical a few years ago it was handled an awful lot better.

    It doesn't have to be this way, if only the management had some balls...
    Edited by erp at 20/08/10 @ 21:55

  • Pastici #47 2 years ago

    Was is the Crackdown announcer? That would soften the blow a little bit.

  • makememoo #48 2 years ago

    it is even worth saying that being "sacked" and being made redundant are two completely different things in the eyes of employment law and shouldn't be intentionally confused for the sake of a headline?
    Edited by makememoo at 21/08/10 @ 11:26

  • Tyronne #49 2 years ago

    If that is how those higher up felt it was acceptable to treat (former) staff, then I hope that those responsible were not the first to be rehired...simply awful state of affairs.

  • martingee #50 2 years ago

    @ex-RTW employees
    as someone who was made redundent last year at Midway Newcastle i can totally empathise.

    Losing your job is devastating to say the least but the way in which you were made redundent sounds appalling at best. There was no lottery at Midway we were all made redundent, they were changing the locks (actually) behind our backs whilst they were telling us we had lost our jobs and wouldn't be paid for the previous two weeks work.

    I got my government payment in around 5 weeks and as someone mentioned it won't be what you would have been paid normally, but it should be at least substantial enough to help.

    It may not seem like it now but things will get better...
    Edited by martingee at 21/08/10 @ 18:03

  • gnrlstuart #51 2 years ago

    if you had to be killed, electric chair or shot in the head? allot of staff fried that day, how awful and impersonal...

  • dirtysteve #52 2 years ago

    @martingee, do you mind if I ask, how were they able to get away with not paying you for two weeks work? It seems illegal, but it's not the first time I've heard of it. I'm guessing the law favours the rights of shareholders over the workers, which is completely wrong. When you buy stock, a risk is taken, when you get a job, pay for work is supposed to be fundamental. Sorry if I'm ranting, it's just this carry on really pisses me off.

  • Johnson #53 2 years ago

    >> if you had to be killed, electric chair or shot in the head? allot of staff fried that day, how awful and impersonal...

    Blimey, they chose the electric chair option then?

    No nice way to do this - individual chats wouldn't have actually done anything than pasted a veneer of civilisation to the situation.

  • darkmorgado #54 2 years ago

    @Pastici

    "I can see your house from here! Get out of work, agent!"

    Joking aside, it's f*cking disgraceful the way that they have handled it. I don't give a shit if they are administrators and just being "practical", you can be practical without being a c*nt and making everyone feel publicly humiliated.

  • martingee #55 2 years ago

    @dirtysteve Well, when they closed down Midway Newcastle it was itself Midway Newcastle Limited, a subsidary company of Midway in the US, so the limited company was closed down and any claims for money owed was directed at the liqudators handling the Newcastle closure, as opposed to the US parent company.

    (Indeed when Midway in the US was in chapter 11 bankruptcy this didn't 'affect the buisness' in europe's day to day running- it did but technically it wasn't menat to.)

    Since Midway Newcastle Limited never carried its own money in a bank account (i assume purchases went through the london office to america, payroll came from london etc) then when it was closed down it had no money to pay the staff. I believe something similar happened to the Rebellion studio that was closed earlier in the year but someone would have to confirm that.

    Its a way buisness' protect themselves and i'm assuming (again) a common buisness practice not just within the games industry.

  • byakuya83 #56 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 10:03:41 30-03-2012

  • flipperpod #57 2 years ago

    I was always told good manners cost nothing, but apparently that would be inefficient. Sheesh.
    Edited by flipperpod at 23/08/10 @ 12:24

  • RedBeard729 #58 2 years ago

    This story is bullshit BTW

  • jeffgoldman #59 2 years ago

    Bullshit as in wrong? Or bullshit as in what they did was not the greatest way to handle things?

    I can assure you (being in the room where they announced the names) that other than a few minor mistakes in the account of what happened, it's true.

  • hoosekey #60 2 years ago

    must be a dundee way of doing things. except we got a jeremy kyle style q&a afterwards. if it wasnt so shit it might have been funny :(

  • Swineherd #61 2 years ago

    Just some further clarifications as there seems to still be some confusion over how the PA system was involved.

    When we were informed that the company was going into administration, the administrators, Dave Jones and Gary Dale gathered all staff in the cafeteria and told us all there. It was really hard to hear them from the back of the room, some of what was said was lost on us that far back.

    When we were once again gathered there 24 hours later for them to tell us who was being made redundant, *I* gave them a microphone to use, which used speakers throughout the cafeteria, so people at the back would be able to hear what was going on. Everyone was present, it was all done face to face.

    I was one of the majority laid off, not being paid for 3 weeks work, plus all the other entitlements was shitty, but it's still worth clarifying for the sake of accuracy.