Sorry-not-sorry, but this is just not cool. And it's not the first time a major publisher has done this, to be clear. But it makes my blood boil like it should make other people's blood boil. It's a well-documented fact that .skate hasn't fared well in the long-term Steam charts, and as a live stream title, that's never good news. In a time of layoffs, layoffs, and more layoffs, it hardly strikes me that they're bashing Full Circle Studio, the game's developer.
Still. I'm not sure a disingenuous-sounding “difficult decisions please understand” tweet would be much better, but a blog post trying to improve “next chapter” is bad, bad. Few can say how well PlayStation and Xbox games are doing, but probably not the best. Still, I'm sick and tired of hearing about rounds of EA layoffs and studio shutdowns. Alas, as CJ famously stated, albeit paraphrased to make Google hate me for adding the expletive, “Here it is again.”
I'm tired…
“To our skate. community,” EA's post begins, setting a heartfelt tone…
“Since launching Early Access in September, tens of millions of you have joined San Vansterdam. Your passion, creativity, and feedback have strengthened our belief in what skate can become. As skate continues to evolve, we're transforming as a studio. We're reshaping Full Circle to better support the long-term future of skateboarding and focus the team on the things that matter most to you.”
“Reshaping Full Circle” is definitely better than turning off Full Circle. At the very least, it means people will actually still be there work at Full Circle. Talking about evolution and transformation is the dumbest kind of corporate talk, but EA is a corporation. It is to be expected. Of course, this talk of supporting the long-term future of the game is welcome – it's all relative, isn't it? You don't want to hear about pulling the plug. The fact that it had to happen speaks for itself.
“These moves mean changes to our team structure and some roles will be affected. The teammates affected are talented colleagues and friends who have helped build the foundations of skateboarding. Their creativity and dedication are deeply rooted in what players experience today. This decision is not a reflection of their impact and we are committed to supporting them during this transition.”
So here's the thing. In a small way, Electronic Arts is probably mandated by law to help the team out a bit. I'll update if I'm wrong and someone hears back. I'm not a lawyer. But I've heard something similar before. That aside, it's… nice, I guess… that they're saying kind words about the developers. Would it be worse if they didn't? Uh, sure. But look at this. The blog post strikes a cheerful tone, or at least something overshadowed by the good news. “Some roles will be affected. I guess no company wants to use the actual word which is layoffs. That would be mean, wouldn't it?
I should note, and perhaps should have done so earlier, that Full Circle wrote this. Not Electronic Arts. But for some reason I'm marking this as an EA blog post. Whoever wrote this, EA made a call here. Even if they technical no, they still did. Developers would not cancel their own positions. None of this works like that.
“Our work at skate. continues. We look forward to working with you as we move faster, listen more closely, and provide consistent service to all of you. Our commitment to skate. and the millions of players who believe in it remains strong.”
We'll see how it all turns out. If and when we hear how many people just lost their livelihoods, I'll update this article accordingly.
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Good luck Nissin.
