The once-great MMO studio Daybreak seems to be in crisis again. The company behind MMOs and MMORPGs like H1Z1, Planetside 2, DC Universe Online, or Everquest is said to have laid off 70 people. Back in April, 70 employees had to leave. The former CEO raised serious accusations on Twitter.
This is what Daybreak officially says: There have been layoffs at Daybreak Game Company (formerly Sony Online Entertainment). The company confirmed this to Polygon.
Daybreak did not provide details on how many employees were laid off. However, it is said that the layoffs were necessary to optimize the company structure, so that they can achieve success in the coming years.
They want to help those affected as much as they can.
On Twitter, there is already an initiative under the hashtag #DaybreakJobs to give new perspectives to the employees who lost their jobs. In the past, some former employees of the canceled Everquest Next ended up at “Ashes of Creation,” which is considered a spiritual successor to Everquest Next.
Former CEO is furious on Twitter
This is what the former CEO says on Twitter: John Smedley is the former head of the company, and he is currently working for Amazon on an undisclosed game.
Smedley tweeted several messages on Friday night that have since been deleted.
Smedley stated that Daybreak has laid off 70 people. That would be about a third of the company. Smedley further says: “These are good people who could have worked for another 10 years if things had been managed well.”
Smedley said he is very, very, very angry right now. It is December, for God’s sake, and that’s how they treat their employees.
The many problems of Daybreak since the sale of Sony
What is happening at Daybreak? Daybreak used to be an MMO studio under Sony, developing games like Everquest, Planetside 2 or DC Universe Online.
- Still under Smedley, “H1Z1” had a short-term hit in Early Access on Steam.
- With Everquest Next, a prestige project was in development that was supposed to usher in a new era of MMORPGs.
But even under Smedley, the numbers apparently didn’t add up, and the development of Everquest Next progressed only slowly.
Sony parted ways with the MMO studio in 2015 – apparently because it no longer fit into the corporate structure.
The new era as an independent company since 2015 seems to have been unsuccessful for Daybreak so far.
- The existing games like DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, or Everquest are aging and apparently generating less and less revenue.
- The short-term hit H1Z1 has declined in the turmoil around PUBG and Fortnite.
- A eSports league for H1Z1 was recently shut down due to lack of success.
- The development of Everquest Next was officially canceled years ago – the spin-off Landmark also had to be scrapped.
In addition, Daybreak was somehow connected to a Russian oligarch, whose accounts were frozen. However, they denied this – a press release about the sale, which had been on the website for years, was said to be a mistake.
There have been repeated layoffs at the company. Most recently, Daybreak parted ways with employees in April 2018.
