SOE Confirms Studio Closures, Death of The Agency [The Agency]

[RSS FEED]

UPDATE: SOE has officially announced that "it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios." The company is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can "focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties." It's current portfolio of games will not be affected. Check out the full announcement after the jump.


According to Kotaku, Sony Online Entertainment has closed three studios and will lay off nearly one third of its workforce. While SOE hasn't released an official statement, Kotaku says they confirmed through "a source familiar with the matter" that the closures affect the Seattle, Tucson and Denver offices. In addition, the source stated that numerous employees in the Austin and San Diego offices have also been let go from their positions.

The rumor began spreading last night when Goerge Broussard of Duke Nukem fame tweeted, "Word that Sony Online Entertainment Seattle is having layoffs and that studio closure is possible." He quickly followed that by saying, "To be more clear, the layoffs may be SOE wide and not just limited to Seattle. So, Austin, San Diego, etc..."

Broussard's latest tweet on the matter, which was posted 12 hours ago, said "SOE Seattle and other studios (Denver is rumored) will be closed tomorrow. Good luck to all impacted."

Official announcement from SOE

As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios.  As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games.  All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern. 

This strategic decision will have no impact on SOE’s current portfolio of live games; additionally SOE will transition development efforts for the Denver and Tucson studios’ suite of products to its San Diego headquarters.  This strategic alignment of development resources better positions SOE to remain a global leader in online gaming and deliver on its promise of creating entertaining games for players of all ages, and servicing the 20 million players that visited SOE servers in just the past year.

More...