ArenaNet, the company behind Guild Wars 2, laid off several employees on October 9. It appears that mainly developers of a new, still unknown project were affected. There are apparently no consequences for Guild Wars 2, but ArenaNet is having major problems with a successor game.
What is happening at ArenaNet? As game designer Jennifer Scheurle announced on Twitter, she was unexpectedly and without prior notice laid off by ArenaNet.
She cited that a reorganization of projects took place at the developer. Scheurle was a senior designer for a new, unannounced project. It possibly concerned the action game that was supposed to be released for consoles.
How many employees are affected? It is currently unclear how many employees are affected by this reorganization and possible layoffs.
However, several other developers have spoken out on Twitter, such as Mitch Dyer, writer for Star Wars: Squadrons. He expressed his sympathy for those laid off on Twitter and shared links to companies looking for new developers.
On reddit, the number of 10 employees is currently circulating, but there is no confirmation for this. This would mean the layoffs are significantly lower than in early 2019. At that time, ArenaNet laid off over 100 employees – nearly 1/4 of the entire studio.
Although Guild Wars 2 does not seem to be affected by the new layoffs at first glance, they again cast a bad light on the developer’s situation. ArenaNet simply cannot manage to release a new game.
ArenaNet repeatedly cancels new projects – lives solely off GW2
What happened in 2019? As former employee Jessica Price stated after the layoffs in early 2019, Guild Wars 2 was said to be running only on low flame. The layoffs primarily affected employees from two new, unannounced projects.
At that time, many speculated that ArenaNet was working on up to 3 other projects alongside GW2, including a mobile game (via Guildnews). It is unknown what the status of these projects is following the layoffs in 2019 and now in 2020.
However, it is striking that the entire management of the company has been crumbling since the layoffs in 2019:
- First, Mike O’Brien, the president and the last remaining founder of ArenaNet, left the studio in October.
- Shortly thereafter, his successor, Mike Zadorojny, followed. He took over as game director running operations and then quietly disappeared in November – heading to Amazon Games.
Who is currently in charge of ArenaNet is also not quite clear. The colleagues from MassivelyOP assume it is a John Taylor, of whom little is known. Some authors from Massively have a very good connection to ArenaNet, and therefore the statement is quite trustworthy.
What’s next for GW2? While ArenaNet is struggling with many issues, Guild Wars 2 itself is doing quite well. The Living World Season 5 provides regular content, and just in September, the first new fractal since January 2019 was released.
Additionally, the third expansion End of Dragons is planned for 2021, for which a short trailer has already been released.
