Redundancies at Syndicate studio confirmed

By Fred Dutton Published 17 February, 2012

25 Starbreeze staffers shown the door.

Syndicate developer Starbreeze has confirmed a round of redundancies.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, 25 staff members have been laid off at the Swedish studio following the completion of its impending FPS reboot for publisher EA.

As well as the redundancies, board member Peter Tornquist has resigned with no replacement planned.

"It is sad that we are forced to make staff cutbacks affecting employees. But we have to reduce staff after the final delivery of the Syndicate," commented CEO Mikael Nermark.

Syndicate finally arrives in stores on 24th February following a long, allegedly troubled development.

"Can a solid, interesting shooter with nostalgic ties honestly reel in the punters, especially a mere two weeks before the onslaught of the publisher's favoured son Mass Effect 3?" asked Will Porter in Eurogamer's recent Syndicate preview.

"Let's just hope EA have their persuadertrons warming up."

Starbreeze's past credits include The Darkness and the two Chronicles of Riddick titles.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (44) Latest comment 3 months ago

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

  • juliankennedy23 #1 3 months ago

    Layoffs after completion is not that unusual. Hopefully they can get a new assignment and start bulking up.

  • Architect_z #2 3 months ago

    Theres always applications at McDonalds lads.

    Neg me if you think i rock.
    Edited by Architect_z at 17/02/12 @ 19:07

  • TonyCB #3 3 months ago

    @Architect_z

    you cock....

  • Architect_z #4 3 months ago

    @TonyCB

    Cockadoodle-who?

  • Stompy #5 3 months ago

    Post deleted at 23:13:35 17-04-2012

  • Architect_z #6 3 months ago

    @Stompy

    Cockadoodle-who?

  • w00t #7 3 months ago

    Well, that sucks.

  • uninspiredcup #8 3 months ago

    I hope this flops purely on the basis of what it represents. Likewise with Xcom.

  • Timotei #9 3 months ago

    @Architect_z Cockadoodle-you.

  • Snake_2011 #10 3 months ago

    this happens at the majority of studios so not news to me.

  • Architect_z #11 3 months ago

    @Timotei

    .....nice. ^_^

  • Timotei #12 3 months ago

    @Architect_z A retarded monkey could have come up with that, so no, not really.

  • Architect_z #13 3 months ago

    @Timotei

    "A retarded monkey could have come up with that, so no, not really."

    You should be happy, you got the answer right. I'm a Cockadoodle
    Edited by Architect_z at 17/02/12 @ 18:54

  • cloudskipa #14 3 months ago

    Um this doesn't bode very well for the game at all. What a strange time to lay staff off, at least wait to see how well the game does surely??

    Starbreeze Studios have some very talented staff so it's sad news.

  • Peter_LIAR_Molyneux #15 3 months ago

    Wonder if they are going to have the balls to blame it on used game sales killing their jobs when the game isn't even out yet. It wouldn't surprise me.

  • MattEdWithCheese #16 3 months ago

    Fuck Off EA...

  • dagas #17 3 months ago

    It could be people who were brought on board temporarily for the game with a contract that said they only had work until the game was finished.

  • asphaltcowboy #18 3 months ago

    Fairly meaningless without more information... Perhaps it was the QA guys, whose contracts typically end when a project finishes?

  • geeza2020 #19 3 months ago

    @cloudskipa they HAD some very talented staff, but most of them left before this travesty was put into development.

  • Daeltaja #20 3 months ago

    AAA industry sucks at the moment. We won't have any big budget games in a few years at this rate, nobody will want to work in it.

  • DrStrangelove #21 3 months ago

    Post deleted at 19:47:35 17-02-2012

  • overcorpse #22 3 months ago

    @Architect_z no,your a cunt.

  • Nephirion #23 3 months ago

    Anticipation of poor sales?

  • Snake_2011 #24 3 months ago

    guys the project is over why would they keep people on when it is finished has no reflection on the game.

  • digitalash #25 3 months ago

    I hope Syndicate is amazing... but this don't bode well. You might sometimes get layoffs after completion but not if EA thinks it's shit hot and wants you all to work on DLC and a sequel.

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #26 3 months ago

    @digitalash doesnt look amazing , I played the old syndicate and it totally owns what I seen from this game. I am sure be solid but I dont think it will be amazing. But people are free to buy it.

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #27 3 months ago

    well I can see layoffs after project being done not always for reason such as the game being rubbish (not saying it will be) but what is interesting is why the board member resigned thats big.

    But I just dont think this game will stand out and its just amateur I mean best example is Agents shouldnt have names man they shouldnt even be one man team it should of been like Gears of war with a squad and third person. Would of stood out more if they did that, secondly the world needs to be dark and polluted aka cyberpunk and the old art style of the game actually was great. They should of allowed you to design your own logo customize your appearance etc.

    But it doesnt bode well, I personally as an fan of syndicate and syndicate wars hope this does fail (even though it is a shame if studios shut down) because it would make a stonewall against EAs raping of IP that wasnt theirs. They havnt even talked with the original creators, its whats wrong with the game industry same with my hopes that DmC fails as well.

  • jogyourmind #28 3 months ago

    I hope it crashes and burns and the conclusion is that dumbed down reinventions of classic games is not a good idea.

  • Architect_z #29 3 months ago

    Awww come on guys, these guys got fired they need jobs i'm only trying to help.
    This is excellent, such hatred from people on here.

  • makeamazing #30 3 months ago

    Fairly meaningless without more information... Perhaps it was the QA guys, whose contracts typically end when a project finishes?

    @asphaltcowboy - that is true, many companies do have short term contracts, but if thats the case then its not really news. It would be nice to know more information.

  • razzafazza #31 3 months ago

    my THEORY on syndicate is the following :

    when it was in early production this was supposed to be EAs answer to GTA, Assassins Creed, Saints, Batman, Just Cause etc .... so-called "open-world-games".
    they are a highly profitable genre yet EA doesnt have a single one. (well, i guess Mercenaries but thats not really a high profile title like those i just mentioned)

    reasons ?

    -before the official announcement of syndicate sometime last year someone from paradox said he saw starbreezes syndicate and called it a "GTA-clone.
    but the game that was announced as we can all see is a COD-clone and i think the difference between COD-clone and GTA-clones is big enough to not be confused by a developer veteran such as the guy from paradox (btw. at least one of riddicks lead developers works at paradox .... thats more riddick lead developers than currently work at starbreeze which loves to advertise with its past success on riddick, hilarious isnt it ? )

    -like said above, EA sure as hell looks intend on having a high profile IP in every genre, they built up BF3 to be compete with COD, they built KOA to compete with skyrim, they built Dante s Inferno to compete with God of War ....
    ....why wouldnt they want an open world game, especially when the above mentioned open world games from other publishers are massive successes ?

    -syndicate would be a really great and natural fit for that type of game. you could see the original as somewhat of a precursor to open world games in more ways than one. heck play Saints Row 3 with the octopus gun that mindcontrols people and all of saints sillyness aside its alot closer than syndicate than a COD-clone like this.

    .... but then shit happened (internal starbreeze troubles were all over gaming news, google them if you like, of the original riddick team almost nobody is left at starbreeze ) and things went to hell so in order to not lose even more money EA cut things left and right and gave order to turn it into a corridor shooter instead because the open world thing would never be properly finished with key staff leaving the company etc and they want to make at least some money out of all the wasted development budget.

    reasons ?

    well doesnt it suprise you this comes without an online-pass (official excuse = new IP, but then again even SP-only new IP Amalur got sort of a online pass so they are very obviously bullshitting ) ?
    doesnt it suprise you the whole EA-typical DLC & preorder craze is nowhere to be found regarding syndicate ? doesnt it suprise you how little marketing there is ?
    this game doesnt even show up in most pre-order charts as well.


    ...all things said and done this is just a THEORY but i wouldnt be suprised if at least a bit of it is true - and if so thats a damn shame because a "cyberpunk GTA" would have fucking rocked and probably even satisfied most of us fans of the original. a story-focused corridor shooter like this ? meh, one out of dozens. and if i had to pick in between Darkness 2 and Mass Effect 3 and a whole lot of other current and upcomming games its no wonder Syndicate gets soo little people s interest.

  • Retro_ #32 3 months ago

    I hope the game sells well.

  • TheGuvernor #33 3 months ago

    Never played the 1st Syndicate.
    Not sure why this is getting so much negative flak before it's even released?
    Looks pretty good from where I'm sitting...
    Love how the character really looks like Brian Cox - great actor.

  • walidb123 #34 3 months ago

    @TheGuvernor I really like the look of it too. Has a similar vibe to deus ex and that's my fav game of last year so that was quite positive. The hate might be from purists or people who don't like EA.

  • TheGuvernor #35 3 months ago

    @walidb123
    I wouldn't be surprised m8.
    Sometimes its 'cool' to hate on a game - just look at RAGE

  • phantasma #36 3 months ago

    @TheGuvernor

    Because this game is a completely different genre and has nothing to do with it's precursors bar the name?

    Now imagine your favorite FPS series (or whatever genre you prefer), after years of neglection from publishers they announce a new installment: this time a puzzle plattformer with facebook integration and MMOish XP grind (or whatever game mechanics are hip at that time).
    Sure, one could say, fresh air to an old IP, but wouldn't you think "what does that game got to do with my beloved series XYZ?"

    So it's less about hate but more about a cynical attempt of IP necromancy to push an otherwise overlooked shooter in a sea of shooters.
    Edited by phantasma at 19/02/12 @ 02:49

  • varkdm #37 3 months ago

    I hope this game sells well too, the only way you are going to see a proper remake of the originals is if this game succeeds. It will be dead and buried if it fails.

  • scuffpuppies #38 3 months ago

    I imagine the staff layoff's were temporary contracted employees. Whether they were used in the QA department or Art, Programming, Design departments etc. Studio's have been contracting out to freelancers for over 15 years now.

    This is not a worrying indication of Starbreeze's forthcoming game.

  • Uncompetative #39 3 months ago

    @Architect_z

    Go fuck yourself.

    I know your shrivelled balls won't get in the way.

  • phantasma #40 3 months ago

    @varkdm

    Firaxis are developing a "proper" X Com remake and the "shooterised" version isn't even out yet.

    So no, i don't believe we have to buy their streamlined experiments first to foster the goodwill (haha) of the industry. If we want it they'll develop it.

  • Architect_z #41 3 months ago

    @Uncompetative

    How do you know about my shrivelled balls?

  • agparrot #42 3 months ago

    It's a shame that people have lost their jobs, and as @asphaltonline says, people getting booted out of work isn't uncommon at the end of projects. Perhaps it's a little bit more telling that a board member has gone, but I guess we'll find out this week whether any of this is related to the quality of the game.

    Also, if commenters here could prevent this thread deteriorating into name-calling and insults, I'd really appreciate it.

  • asphaltcowboy #43 3 months ago

    @makeamazing Everyday is a slow news day here at EG ;)

  • Uncompetative #44 3 months ago

    @Architect_z

    My mom told me. LOL