Only a single day after the launch of their newest game, America’s Army 3, the America’s Army development team was laid off in an effort to “consolidate development.”
Launching a game should be an event worth celebrating for any game developer, but for the team behind the U.S. Army’s America’s Army series, it must have come as a somber occasion. Today – only a day after America’s Army 3 was released – the U.S. Army decided to close down the Emeryville, California studio that developed the America’s Army games, according to Shacknews.
Development of the series will continue, but shift over to the America’s Army office in Redstone, Alabama. The decision to shut down the Emeryville studio and move operations closer to the AA headquarters is a “consolidation” that will “allow us to gain efficiencies between our public and government applications,” an America’s Army representative said. I don’t doubt that it is that, but I’m sure it’s got plenty to do with tightening the budget as well.
“We appreciate all the hard work that every member of the America’s Army team has contributed to the project, and we look forward to delivering future America’s Army game releases in the months ahead,” the America’s Army representative concluded.
Details of the layoffs, including how many people lost their jobs or whether or not they had been given advance notice, weren’t explained. I can only hope that the team was given a heads up to start looking for work – to ditch an entire studio the day after they finish putting out your game seems a little bit harsh.
