For some employees of Valve, makers of the ultra-hit franchises “Half-Life” and “Portal”, yesterday was a very bad day. The development studio may have laid off as many as 25 people, according to a report by Gamasutra. Valve co-founder, Gabe Newell made a statement to Engadget on the company's recent changes and confirmed that no projects are being canceled as of this moment.
We don't usually talk about personnel matters for a number of reasons. There seems to be an unusual amount of speculation about some recent changes here, so I thought I'd take the unusual step of addressing them. No, we aren't canceling any projects. No, we aren't changing any priorities or projects we've been discussing. No, this isn't about Steam or Linux or hardware or [insert game name here]. We're not going to discuss why anyone in particular is or isn't working here.
Newell and company representatives would not confirm that any layoffs had taken place, but they did acknowledge that changes had happened. Business Director Jason Holtman has left for unknown reasons, and Jeri Ellsworth, an electrical engineer for the company, tweeted that she was fired today.
Layoffs in the gaming industry are certainly nothing new, and with the recent bankruptcy of THQ, it seems as though there is no such thing as job security in this industry as of late.
More information is expected to come out on this story soon, check back here for updates.
Brian Arnold is a frequent contributor and "Promising Author" on the website GayAuthors.org, under the username "WrathOfMagneto". Follow him on his blog:Click Here!
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