EvaUnit02 on 7/3/2016 at 17:11
(
http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/7/11172408/fable-legends-canceled-lionhead-studios-closing)
Asynchronous MP game Fable: Legends has been cancelled and MS probably gonna close Lionhead, but UK employment laws might not swing in their favour. I've enjoyed the core Fable games for what they were, RIP.
Maybe if they'd been working on a proper Fable sequel (SP ARPG) and had it released on XB1 by now, the studio's future might not be jeopardy right now?
Maybe this will teach other established major developers known for SP games not to double-down on f*cking MP only games? Not everybody is a DICE, who've been living and breathing MP for aeons and with a proven track record of success in that area.
EvaUnit02 on 11/3/2016 at 23:07
Stay classy MS, you wankers.
[video=youtube;PRetNEBtQJU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRetNEBtQJU&list=UU__Oy3QdB3d9_FHO_XG1PZg&index=4[/video]
Nameless Voice on 12/3/2016 at 00:28
Ah, you have to love America's employment laws, where (in some states) you can just fire people without giving them any notice.
I'm vaguely curious why this video is voiced over a Raven game rather than, say, Black and White (which is the game I remember Lionhead from.)
Pyrian on 12/3/2016 at 00:40
Usually that still involves severance pay, though. From a legal perspective, it's not so much "sudden firing" as "Here's your notice, now go work from home, doing whatever you like."
In my experience, corporations act borderline terrified of laid off employees. They want them off the premises and preferably signing NDA's, and typically offer surprisingly generous terms. At least, in knowledge industries, so to speak. Not so much McDonalds.
Nameless Voice on 12/3/2016 at 02:38
Unsure, I heard that in Texas at least they can fire you without any notice (and, in return, you can quit without any notice.)
No idea how true that is, since I don't live there.
But, yeah, if there's severance pay then there's not really much difference between that and the "we'll pay you for your two weeks but don't come in" that you get in other places.
On the flip side, if they decided to randomly cancel what you were working on and fire you, without even telling you in advance, you probably would be tempted to break a few things on your way out if you could.
Renault on 12/3/2016 at 03:21
AFAIK, almost every state has an "at will" policy, meaning anyone can be fired at any time with no notice. The only exception would be if you had some specific type of terms built into your own individual contract.
There's not even a law or any legal standard for severance, but I believe most employers will pay it, in most cases. They don't have to though.
It's funny hearing someone outside the U.S. talk about how this is such a strange practice, when it's pretty common and ordinary here. How does it work in Europe, do you have inform an employee they will be fired in a month? That just seems odd. How productive would they possibly be over that time period if they know they're out the door?
Nameless Voice on 12/3/2016 at 04:28
Generally, you have to give notice both ways. They have to give you notice if they're letting you go, you have to give them notice if you're quitting.
How long the notice is depends on how long the person has been employed. I think it's usually around two weeks.
Note that they can choose to give you the notice and then tell you to go away (basically, give you your notice period as paid leave), which is effectively the same as throwing you out instantly but giving you the notice period as severance pay.
Just in case it isn't clear, "letting you go" means job redundancy - the job no longer exists. That's what happened in the case of Lionhead. This is opposed to being fired, which is a disciplinary action- e.g. you did wrong things and are being removed immediately. But even then, they usually need to have given you a written warning before they can fire you.
Renault on 12/3/2016 at 08:16
After re-reading the initial article, I'm not sure why we're even talking about American labor law anyway - Lionhead is a UK studio, and it says right in the article that employees must be given 30 days notice in the case of mass layoffs.
Nameless Voice on 12/3/2016 at 12:49
Oh. So it does.
That'll teach me not to read. The video implied they were given no notice.
Yakoob on 12/3/2016 at 19:43
Bretheren, that's a good point. However, compared to the rest of the world, US labor laws are abhorrently bad with no required vacation days and at will firing. Just like US's Healthcare... and education... and crime rates... and...
but lets not derail a fine thread.
I feel bad for these guys, yet at the same time feel desensitized. It could be confirmation bias since I work/interact with the industry on a daily basis, but it seems GameDev has a really bad job security problem compared to the norm (I know academia/teaching is just as bad). Studios closing down, indies going bankrupt, and half a team being fired after release is a daily occurrence.
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
Unsure, I heard that in Texas at least they can fire you without any notice (and, in return, you can quit without any notice.)
No idea how true that is, since I don't live there.
But, yeah, if there's severance pay then there's not really much difference between that and the "we'll pay you for your two weeks but don't come in" that you get in other places.
On the flip side, if they decided to randomly cancel what you were working on and fire you, without even telling you in advance, you probably would be tempted to break a few things on your way out if you could.
For some reason I misread it as "in Texas at least
there can be a fire without a notice."
needless to say, reading the rest of the post felt much more amusing ;p
