A little angry for my investment

[Daniel.5428]

> @"Balsa.3951" said:

> Can understand u feel upset they didn’t tried invest all in gw2 to become nr1 mmo over the years same time I understand them knowing gw2 can’t carry them forever.

>

Don't get me wrong. I did not ask the impossible from them. All I want is a roadmap that assure us they still have cool plans for the game. After the big news with 143 fired, they didn't say anything. Their comment had 0 value.

 

[Daniel.5428]

> @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> 1) source that it was mobile gaming

> 2) Do you have a source for what percent of profit was put into ‘mobile gaming’

> 3) close to being put into maintenance mode is your opinion, unless you can back it up with hard facts,

> 4) countless people leaving and why is your opinion also, unless of course you want to back it up with hard facts.

>

 

1) All leaked infos confirmed a mobile project + NcSoft started moving all his MMOS on mobile platforms (B&S mobile, Aion mobile). If you don't want to see it, it's your problem.

2)We don't have a percentage but the lack of content was obvious.

3) Yes, it was not close to maintenance mode, but releasing one episode every 3-4 months with content that can be fully completed in 5 days (achievements, story, events, exploration) is not good either. The only long term content they added were those brainless collections on every map....and that was bad, it just makes the game grindy (except, in the end, you just get skins, no real stuff)

4) The number of people is lower. Anet never released numbers, so is stupid to ask for source, but, in my guild, at least 18 veterans who played since gw1 haven't logged in 9-10 months.

 

 

[Daniel.5428]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> But that's the thing. Our money wasn't paid to support GW2, it was to support Anet. How they decided to use that money is certainly open for discussion, but at the end of it all, it was (and is!) their choice, whether we agree or not.

 

And do you agree to invest in something that start a project and then abandon it? They wasted money....

[Daniel.5428]

> @"trev.1045" said:

> You dont dictate where a supplier spends the money you give them, you just get the product.

>

> However to be fair to the OP i think he is essentially annoyed that the team seem to have blown a lot of money/resources on failed projects...that could have been used on GW2.

 

Exactly. I have nothing against them developing new games. But they just started a project, invested in it 1-2 maybe 3 years of work and then BOM....throw out the ppl.

[Algreg.3629]

> @"Daniel.5428" said:

> > @"trev.1045" said:

> > You dont dictate where a supplier spends the money you give them, you just get the product.

> >

> > However to be fair to the OP i think he is essentially annoyed that the team seem to have blown a lot of money/resources on failed projects...that could have been used on GW2.

>

> Exactly. I have nothing against them developing new games. But they just started a project, invested in it 1-2 maybe 3 years of work and then BOM....throw out the ppl.

 

again. If all projects were a guaranteed success, everyone on earth would be very, very rich.

 

Now for the more important stuff, again, as you apparently don`t get it. You do not "invest" anything. You pay for an online service. The very MOMENT you hit the purchase/transfer/whatever button, your money becomes THEIRS. They can do whatever they want with it. They can light cigars with your dollars, right in front of you and burn the rest in their fireplace for a cozy nice afternoon fire in the middle of summer. And rightfully so. That is how much it is THEIR money then as opposed to YOURS.

 

And it gets even better. You know, they could do that and close down the game 3 months later. All your "investments" would be gone then and your purchase, which is really a lease, is forever dedicated to the ether. Is that cool? Probably not. If you do not like it, well, then don´t enter such contractual agreements. If you just realize now how these things work and dislike it, well, stop paying anything. Do I think all these things are great? No. Does that suck? Yes. But I am not making a complete fool of myself either by ignoring realities. Companies are not a good object for emotional attachment. Maybe take this as a learning experience.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

> @"Daniel.5428" said:

> > @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> > 1) source that it was mobile gaming

> > 2) Do you have a source for what percent of profit was put into ‘mobile gaming’

> > 3) close to being put into maintenance mode is your opinion, unless you can back it up with hard facts,

> > 4) countless people leaving and why is your opinion also, unless of course you want to back it up with hard facts.

> >

>

> 1) All leaked infos confirmed a mobile project + NcSoft started moving all his MMOS on mobile platforms (B&S mobile, Aion mobile). If you don't want to see it, it's your problem.

> 2)We don't have a percentage but the lack of content was obvious.

> 3) Yes, it was not close to maintenance mode, but releasing one episode every 3-4 months with content that can be fully completed in 5 days (achievements, story, events, exploration) is not good either. The only long term content they added were those brainless collections on every map....and that was bad, it just makes the game grindy (except, in the end, you just get skins, no real stuff)

> 4) The number of people is lower. Anet never released numbers, so is stupid to ask for source, but, in my guild, at least 18 veterans who played since gw1 haven't logged in 9-10 months.

>

>

 

So.. as Flaeshy said.. it's just your opinions.

Please post some evidence for all those FACTS you keep telling us are FACTS.

Otherwise it is nothing more than hearsay and conjecture... lots of people leave guilds they go elsewhere, they might not like you so they left... your basing everything off chines whispers, things you think you see and .. not a lot else imo.

You said it was close to maintenance mode, now your saying it was not close to maintenance mode.. which is it to be tomorrow?

They release a lot more "free" content than most other MMO's out there and on a regular mid expac cadence.. in fact imo the cadence is to short, they should extend it a bit and allow for a little more quality , but hey that's my opinion right.. not yours.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I'm not sure what the difference is (for playable length of time) between a Living World Season Episode released every ~3 months and (previously stated) 5 days of play, and an expansion released every ~2-3 years and perhaps a month or two of play.

Is it preferable to wait a year and a half, or more to waiting 2-3 months?

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy expansions; but using the waiting for new content argument against Living World releases seems...well, strange. There's a much longer wait for new expansion content.

[Obtena.7952]

> @"Daniel.5428" said:

> > @"Biff.5312" said:

> > So you paid what you considered the game to be worth, and enjoyed the game. You have no cause for complaint.

>

> Is not a complaint. I don't want my money back. I just want them to take a stand and assure us that they plan to develop the game from now on. Like someone said above, a roadmap for 1-2 years would be enough.

 

I don't get it .. they never stopped. Seems like this is just trying to strong arm Anet into committing to some statement on activities they already do. I see no purpose in it .. other than the fact that players who demand such things are also the kinds of players that like to beat Anet over the heads when they misstep even a bit from these roadmaps.

 

I mean, what are you going to do if you don't get a roadmap? Continue to play the game like you have been? These kinds of demands are somewhat ignorant to be honest. If they haven't been giving us roadmaps in the past and they are delivering a game the market wants, why would they waste their time to do so now? Because you want it?

[spinwizard.7903]

The game is not going to die. Your time and investments are still ok. So they were expanding into a mobile project and over four hundred people couldn’t deliver or complete a deadline in a year. It was a major cut into their revenue and nc soft was doing a lot better than areanet at the time with just lineage 2 profits. This is why guild wars hasn’t had an expansion for over a year now. So unfortunately those employees got the axe and the nc soft merge took place. And maybe they hired some previous world of Warcraft employees to work on the guild wars expansions. But they said there is absolutely nothing that will currently affect the game.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"spinwizard.7903" said:

> The game is not going to die. Your time and investments are still ok. So they were expanding into a mobile project and over four hundred people couldn’t deliver or complete a deadline in a year. It was a major cut into their revenue and nc soft was doing a lot better than areanet at the time with just lineage 2 profits. This is why guild wars hasn’t had an expansion for over a year now. So unfortunately those employees got the axe and the nc soft merge took place. And maybe they hired some previous world of Warcraft employees to work on the guild wars expansions. But they said there is absolutely nothing that will currently affect the game.

 

FYI: ArenaNet has been 'merged' with NCSoft since before Guild Wars (One). ArenaNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary since 2002.

Those 'previous World of Warcraft employees' are the founders of ArenaNet (two left long ago, the one remaining being Mike O'Brien, our CEO).

[Ayrilana.1396]

> @"Zenith.7301" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > Your investment was on the things that you bought for yourself with those gems.

> >

> > Otherwise me buying Starbucks every morning equates to investing in that company.

>

> An MMO is a completely different product in nature to a coffee. You don't truly own your character or the servers if the company chooses to close the game despite your gem purchases. You are a paying tenant of a virtual world.

 

You missed the point of my post.

 

Also, you should ready the ToS for the game if you’re assuming that you’re a paying tenant and that somehow qualifies as investing.

[battledrone.8315]

> @"spinwizard.7903" said:

> The game is not going to die. Your time and investments are still ok. So they were expanding into a mobile project and over four hundred people couldn’t deliver or complete a deadline in a year. It was a major cut into their revenue and nc soft was doing a lot better than areanet at the time with just lineage 2 profits. This is why guild wars hasn’t had an expansion for over a year now. So unfortunately those employees got the axe and the nc soft merge took place. And maybe they hired some previous world of Warcraft employees to work on the guild wars expansions. But they said there is absolutely nothing that will currently affect the game.

 

they have said many things over the years, and if you actually believe, that 250 workers can do the same , as 400, then i have some bridges for you to buy

the loss of gaile already HAS affected the game, so that is wrong too

i also doubt, that this game will be the last survivor in the universe, but what do i know?

they screwed up royally, now they have to face it, and work their way back

[Zenith.7301]

> @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > @"Zenith.7301" said:

> > > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > Your investment was on the things that you bought for yourself with those gems.

> > >

> > > Otherwise me buying Starbucks every morning equates to investing in that company.

> >

> > An MMO is a completely different product in nature to a coffee. You don't truly own your character or the servers if the company chooses to close the game despite your gem purchases. You are a paying tenant of a virtual world.

>

> You missed the point of my post.

>

> Also, you should ready the ToS for the game if you’re assuming that you’re a paying tenant and that somehow qualifies as investing.

 

The ToS mean nothing to me considering they can be changed at will by the company at their leisure without the customer having any say in said contract.

[Ashen.2907]

> @"battledrone.8315" said:

> > @"spinwizard.7903" said:

> > The game is not going to die. Your time and investments are still ok. So they were expanding into a mobile project and over four hundred people couldn’t deliver or complete a deadline in a year. It was a major cut into their revenue and nc soft was doing a lot better than areanet at the time with just lineage 2 profits. This is why guild wars hasn’t had an expansion for over a year now. So unfortunately those employees got the axe and the nc soft merge took place. And maybe they hired some previous world of Warcraft employees to work on the guild wars expansions. But they said there is absolutely nothing that will currently affect the game.

>

> they have said many things over the years, and if you actually believe, that 250 workers can do the same , as 400, then i have some bridges for you to buy

> the loss of gaile already HAS affected the game, so that is wrong too

> i also doubt, that this game will be the last survivor in the universe, but what do i know?

> they screwed up royally, now they have to face it, and work their way back

 

250 devs working on gw2 +150 working on a different product

 

vs

 

250 devs working on gw2

 

seems likely to produce similar results for gw2.

[kharmin.7683]

The only people who should have a roadmap are the devs and probably the investors. Would it be nice if it were shared with us? Certainly, but I highly doubt that ANet is willing to publicize it and then be held accountable by the general public.

[Algreg.3629]

> @"Zenith.7301" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > @"Zenith.7301" said:

> > > > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > > Your investment was on the things that you bought for yourself with those gems.

> > > >

> > > > Otherwise me buying Starbucks every morning equates to investing in that company.

> > >

> > > An MMO is a completely different product in nature to a coffee. You don't truly own your character or the servers if the company chooses to close the game despite your gem purchases. You are a paying tenant of a virtual world.

> >

> > You missed the point of my post.

> >

> > Also, you should ready the ToS for the game if you’re assuming that you’re a paying tenant and that somehow qualifies as investing.

>

> The ToS mean nothing to me considering they can be changed at will by the company at their leisure without the customer having any say in said contract.

 

wrong, the ToS means everything to you whether you care or not. Yeah, sucks, doesn't it :)

[battledrone.8315]

> @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > @"battledrone.8315" said:

> > > @"spinwizard.7903" said:

> > > The game is not going to die. Your time and investments are still ok. So they were expanding into a mobile project and over four hundred people couldn’t deliver or complete a deadline in a year. It was a major cut into their revenue and nc soft was doing a lot better than areanet at the time with just lineage 2 profits. This is why guild wars hasn’t had an expansion for over a year now. So unfortunately those employees got the axe and the nc soft merge took place. And maybe they hired some previous world of Warcraft employees to work on the guild wars expansions. But they said there is absolutely nothing that will currently affect the game.

> >

> > they have said many things over the years, and if you actually believe, that 250 workers can do the same , as 400, then i have some bridges for you to buy

> > the loss of gaile already HAS affected the game, so that is wrong too

> > i also doubt, that this game will be the last survivor in the universe, but what do i know?

> > they screwed up royally, now they have to face it, and work their way back

>

> 250 devs working on gw2 +150 working on a different product

>

> vs

>

> 250 devs working on gw2

>

> seems likely to produce similar results for gw2.

 

they have lost some of their best workers..the loss of skills and the hit to morale WILL have an impact

they also took a huge hit to their credability, anyone but their most faithful fans will be more careful with their money

just look at the huge thread regarding gaile..business as usual, i suppose?

and it will be months..maybe even years, before all the relocated resources can deliver something useful

[Omernon.9762]

As a head of a QA department of one of the biggest publishers in the game industry I’ve seen more layoffs than I can count them.

 

People tend to exaggerate, more so when they don’t know what they are really talking about. In many business layoffs are signs of bad things happening, but in corporate game dev it is industry standard. Unless you are necessary or simply they can occupy you with new projects, then you’re forced to move on when the project you are working on ends. Only 10-20% of employed people are in a strong enough position to stay with the company beyond one or two projects.

 

To give you example. When Capcom was a month or two away from releasing Dead Rising 4 no one could report level-design related issues, because they didin’t had any level designers at that point. Only few developers were working on the game, fixing only serious issues - everyone else was forced to move on.

 

Same thing with ANet. They decided to abandon their new project for whatever reason they seem fit. This doesn’t mean that the company is in financial troubles, it simply means that they’ve calculated that releasing new game could hurt them more than scrapping the project alltogether and moving back their focus to Guild Wars series.

[AlexxxDelta.1806]

> @"Omernon.9762" said:

> As a head of a QA department of one of the biggest publishers in the game industry I’ve seen more layoffs than I can count them.

>

> People tend to exaggerate, more so when they don’t know what they are really talking about. In many business layoffs are signs of bad things happening, but in corporate game dev it is industry standard. Unless you are necessary or simply they can occupy you with new projects, then you’re forced to move on when the project you are working on ends. Only 10-20% of employed people are in a strong enough position to stay with the company beyond one or two projects.

>

> To give you example. When Capcom was a month or two away from releasing Dead Rising 4 no one could report level-design related issues, because they didin’t had any level designers at that point. Only few developers were working on the game, fixing only serious issues - everyone else was forced to move on.

>

> Same thing with ANet. They decided to abandon their new project for whatever reason they seem fit. This doesn’t mean that the company is in financial troubles, it simply means that they’ve calculated that releasing new game could hurt them more than scrapping the project alltogether and moving back their focus to Guild Wars series.

 

Anet didn't decide anything though, it was a mandate from above. It is healthy for a gaming company to re-invest in future projects, putting all your eggs in one basket is very risky after all.

 

What is truly worrisome to me is that NCsoft found the (seemingly respectable) earnings from GW2 so underwhelming that not only decided to force shutdown the side projects but also took full control of the company with the NCwest merger and the layoffs. Unrealistic expectations are the bane of the industry at this point, especially with mobile bloating numbers, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that was the case here as well.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

> @"Omernon.9762" said:

> As a head of a QA department of one of the biggest publishers in the game industry I’ve seen more layoffs than I can count them.

>

> People tend to exaggerate, more so when they don’t know what they are really talking about. In many business layoffs are signs of bad things happening, but in corporate game dev it is industry standard. Unless you are necessary or simply they can occupy you with new projects, then you’re forced to move on when the project you are working on ends. Only 10-20% of employed people are in a strong enough position to stay with the company beyond one or two projects.

>

> To give you example. When Capcom was a month or two away from releasing Dead Rising 4 no one could report level-design related issues, because they didin’t had any level designers at that point. Only few developers were working on the game, fixing only serious issues - everyone else was forced to move on.

>

> Same thing with ANet. They decided to abandon their new project for whatever reason they seem fit. This doesn’t mean that the company is in financial troubles, it simply means that they’ve calculated that releasing new game could hurt them more than scrapping the project alltogether and moving back their focus to Guild Wars series.

 

Much of what you wrote makes very good sense.

It is pretty common for game studios to actually ramp up headcount towards release, then reduce not long after.. new projects are nothing different.. in that respect. Unfortunately no company is immune to all those global forces that often conspire to challenge even the best and biggest.

What ANET absolutely had to consider was how do they ensure they remain a viable concern to NC Soft in the long term.. and that comes by way of new product development, which comes at a cost and risk, because anyone who has worked within an R&D environment knows that not every project makes it through to final production, but each offer insight into potential ideas that other projects or even current products can utilise.

By utilising a number of internal resources alongside new employees may of actually helped ANET offset some of that cost and risk... and as projects either fail, get cancelled/benched or succeed, much of that additional resource will no longer be required.. some will be amalgamated back into existing teams, some will maybe stay on in other areas, but some unfortunately will be forced to move on. None of this means ANET is crippled both financially or by way of skills and expertise.. for others to say that does a very large disservice to those 250ish that remain with the business.

Sure NC Soft has reported suffering a decline in revenues.. not unexpected within an ageing product portfolio and those global forces constantly challenging them has and has had to make some unsavoury decisions and likely not just with ANET.. and where better to find cost savings than areas of the business that offer ongoing additional cost and risks.. R&D.. and that is nothing out of the ordinary.

Good news is, there are still 250 talented employees, similar levels to that whish not only developed GW2 but have supported it since launch, minus a few very experienced members of the team which is going to be a hard pill to swallow for a while, but that also offers the opportunity for others to step up.

 

Will things be affected by the layoffs - ABSOLUTELY

Will ANET still be pushing ahead with ANET, certainly up to the completion LS5 - APPARENTLY YES

What will the future hold beyond LS5 - TIME WILL TELL.

[Omernon.9762]

I'm not trying to push argument that they are in perfect state right now, because decisions like these are never easy in the first place, but I'm almost certain that it is not as bad as some doomsayers are telling us. I know it is a human thing, but spreading panic won't change anything or help anyone, especially not ANet. I'm saying this, because the other day I've seen people in LA that seemed to be very upset about the current situation and they were saying that they don't want to see the game shutting down, because they enjoy it so much. I guess they've read some crap on this forums or maybe reddit and false informations like these tend to spread very quickly amongst population.

 

Even though MMORPGs are still in decline, they are still very profitable once they get a firm hold in the market, because people that play them are more likely to spend money than your average Fortnite player. Where other big developers need to constantly innovate themselves and make successful games one after another (and every failure is freaking costly), often spending huge money on marketing, MMORPG developers' only worry is to keep their players occupied, because as long as people are playing their games, they make a ton of cash. I also believe that the aformentioned decline is a good thing. Market was oversaturated with poorly designed products that were swept by recent recession and now we are left with 5 big players (GW2, WOW, BDO, FF and TESO), that can compete with eachother on almost equal terms and the total population of around 30 milion players between them will flunctuate as the result of direct competition. Recently a lot of WoW veterans came to GW2 and TESO, but once a new expac is released (or Classic WoW happens), then a lot of players will go back to WoW. If ANet releases new expansion set in Cantha then we will too see huge increase in playerbase, so it is not all that bad.

 

I'm not worried about recent layoffs. In fact - it might be a good thing for GW2 players as ANet will have to shift their focus back on this game. I'm personally more worried that they will spend too much resources on LWS and too little on new expac, because the later is what really brings new and old souls to this game.

[Aeolus.3615]

> @"Daniel.5428" said:

> > @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> > I was robbed

> >

> > /sob

>

> Well, if they come tommorow and tell you they will stop releasing content and they will put GW2 in a maintenance state or something like "Guys, GW3 is here...and it's on mobile!" then you were robbed. It's normal for a game to die at one point. But let it die because of old age, not because of greedy management.

>

>

 

That would kill Anet.

Btw i have been investing in outfits even bough PoF and a mount skin, i dont feel robed, cause i bough it for pve(i started to lay pve after 6 years cause i only played wvw), issue is players buy stuff with pvp in mind, but this game pvp modes are such a joke due how the game builted over this years, i even stoped play WvW after 6years, pvp i never cared cause i saw it was not going to go well since day one, whenever i want to do pvp i have muc much better games, gw2 pvp is not build on decent ideals and ideas since there some stuff that conflicts with balance itself from the start.

 

 

Game mobiles have success cause pc mmo's are getting worse and less skill is required, and theres more players wanting no effort instant rewards rather thay play for it, just look at gw2 players skill overall... its a joke.

If gw2 was made initially with the intent of being a game towards players skill, team skill knowing where and **when** to cast aoe or save it for a decent spike later etc etc, i doubt there was any other mobile game that could beat that genra of skilled combat, mobiles games are tap tap rewards(i worked for mobile development and i actually hated how stuff worked for game dev, due theres low space for decent mechanics) theyneed to use the advantages of the touch screen wich wont leave much space for improvements besides tap.. swipe combos, anything more than that becomes a bit pushed towards the user.

Being gw2 a gimmick spamwars, where builds meta are just builds where its spam makes more damage and faster than target does to u(wich is everything that gw2 actually is atm..) it will make player look better, this isnt much different from a mobile game, swipe faster for faster damage, tdlr, reason why mobile games sound interesting, they are cheap to build, easyer to build, easyer to mantain with nowadays tech, still they are worse games.

 

Gw2 could be in much much much much **better state with lesser work from the dev's**, if they werent to make a game for very special and strange people .....

[Squirrel.6318]

That's what i've been saying for a long time. They are just greedy, there is like no point investing or supporting the company with real money because we get very very little back. Even their sales are a scam. "20% off!" wow what a deal wow 20% off.......

[IndigoSundown.5419]

> @"AlexxxDelta.1806" said:

>

> Anet didn't decide anything though, it was a mandate from above. It is healthy for a gaming company to re-invest in future projects, putting all your eggs in one basket is very risky after all.

>

> What is truly worrisome to me is that NCsoft found the (seemingly respectable) earnings from GW2 so underwhelming that not only decided to force shutdown the side projects but also took full control of the company with the NCwest merger and the layoffs. Unrealistic expectations are the bane of the industry at this point, especially with mobile bloating numbers, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that was the case here as well.

 

What NCSoft actually said was:

 

> Songyee Yoon, the CEO of Korean publisher NCSoft West, which owns ArenaNet, e-mailed employees this afternoon with the news. “Our live game business revenue is declining as our franchises age, delays in development on PC and mobile have created further drains against our revenue projects, while our operating costs in the west have increased,” she wrote. “Where we are is not sustainable, and is not going to set us up for future success.”

 

Sure, NCSoft's revenue is down. GW2 revenue declined in Q4 2018. However, if NCSoft is as disappointed in GW2 revenue as you suggest, why did they cancel other projects and keep GW2 running? That they did not suggests that current GW2 revenue will enhance their bottom line if expenses are reduced. If you consider current events in the gaming industry, I suspect that cuts would have been incoming even had revenue looked better. Despite record revenue, a gaming industry leader recently cut over 700 jobs, to reduce bloat and consolidate functions. That's a tough financial climate to keep expenses high despite revenue reduction.

[AlexxxDelta.1806]

> @"IndigoSundown.5419" said:

> > @"AlexxxDelta.1806" said:

> >

> > Anet didn't decide anything though, it was a mandate from above. It is healthy for a gaming company to re-invest in future projects, putting all your eggs in one basket is very risky after all.

> >

> > What is truly worrisome to me is that NCsoft found the (seemingly respectable) earnings from GW2 so underwhelming that not only decided to force shutdown the side projects but also took full control of the company with the NCwest merger and the layoffs. Unrealistic expectations are the bane of the industry at this point, especially with mobile bloating numbers, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that was the case here as well.

>

> What NCSoft actually said was:

>

> > Songyee Yoon, the CEO of Korean publisher NCSoft West, which owns ArenaNet, e-mailed employees this afternoon with the news. “Our live game business revenue is declining as our franchises age, delays in development on PC and mobile have created further drains against our revenue projects, while our operating costs in the west have increased,” she wrote. “Where we are is not sustainable, and is not going to set us up for future success.”

>

> Sure, NCSoft's revenue is down. GW2 revenue declined in Q4 2018. However, if NCSoft is as disappointed in GW2 revenue as you suggest, why did they cancel other projects and keep GW2 running? That they did not suggests that current GW2 revenue will enhance their bottom line if expenses are reduced. If you consider current events in the gaming industry, I suspect that cuts would have been incoming even had revenue looked better. Despite record revenue, a gaming industry leader recently cut over 700 jobs, to reduce bloat and consolidate functions. That's a tough financial climate to keep expenses high despite revenue reduction.

 

You answered this yourself really, they wanted to cut costs and the obvious choice is canceling the unreleased projects instead of the game that is still running and turning out profits. And I am familiar with Activision's layoffs which is a great example of unrealistic expectations. When in a record year you consider massively successful franchises like Overwatch and Hearthstone underperfoming, there is something seriously wrong with the way you do business. Yes, the current climate is tough but they, as an industry, have only themselves to blame for it. Bubbles are known to burst, sooner or later.