Major layoffs at Russian indie Snowbird Games
Eador developer dismisses majority of staff after "unsatisfactory results"
Most of the team behind the Eador and Blood & Gold games has been dismissed after its most recent release was poorly received.
Snowbird Game Studios, a Russia-based independent developer, revealed the layoffs in a blog post two weeks ago, GamaSutra reports. The firm said the investor group behind it "decided to let most of the team go" after negative feedback around the launch of Eador: Imperium.
The team noted that the strategy-RPG's "troubled development" meant the project was delayed longer than it has expected. The post continued: "Even taking [the] technical difficulties of the engine... into account, it's pretty clear we could have done much better."
Another blog post followed, penned by the "new Snowbird Games administration" who attributed to the layoffs to the "unsatisfactory results" of the latest Eador title and the "slow development rates" of Blood & Gold: Caribbean. The firm has decided to "invite new specialists" to work on these projects, but the future of the studio is still being called into question, with the post even stating it is "unclear whether the Snowbird Games brand itself will be preserved".
A third blog post, published last week, reveals the new adminstration's plans: fixes and patches for the latest Blood & Gold game, a "farewell project" for that series, and a new title based around naval battles. The latter will drop the studio's engine in favour of Unreal.
"The new administration has factually no complaints against the old development team," the post reads. "A very complicated and content-heavy project was based on the outdated technology. The problem in this case lies with the management who took decision regarding the game's concept and its engine."