Archive for November, 2009

Gamesbrief’s Weekly Tweets for 2009-11-27

November 27, 2009

Just posted: Why I was tempted to discriminate against women http://tinyurl.com/yh9mbdj # 19,713 unique visitors in the last 30 days. Need to write something controversial tonight to edge over 20,000 for November # Just posted: Five rounds of redundancies that slipped under the radar http://tinyurl.com/ykwbmgm # Just posted: Beautiful Games Studios sees headcount slashed http://tinyurl.com/ycbeymv [...]

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Posted in: Sandbox

Tagged with: twitter

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Why I was tempted to discriminate against women

November 27, 2009

It may seem odd to be writing about women’s employment and maternity rights in a blog dedicated to the business of games, but I make no apology. It is a fundamental issue that has already sparked debate in the technology world and will become more important in games as our industry matures (and as more [...]

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Posted in: Opinion

Tagged with: controversy, government, starred, women

39 Comments
Five rounds of redundancies that slipped under the radar

November 26, 2009

I’m catching up on a number of layoffs or redundancies that I missed or failed to post earlier in the year. Eidos closes Eidos Hungary (formerly Mithis Studios) August 2009 – The developer of BattleStations Midway was closed in August, if the Google Translate version of this blog post is to be believed. That represents [...]

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Posted in: Game Over Zone

Tagged with: closures, eidos, emerge, emergent technologies, gazillion, idol minds, job loss tracker, redundancies, six to start, slipgate ironworks

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Beautiful Games Studios sees headcount slashed

November 26, 2009

Eighty per cent of posts at Champ Man developer Beautiful Games Studios will be cut or transferred to China, according to Gi.biz. Roy Meredith will continue to head the studio, and the Championship Manager brand will still be managed out of London. Beautiful Games Studios is part of Eidos, which was acquired earlier this year [...]

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Posted in: Game Over Zone

Tagged with: beautiful game studios, eidos, job loss tracker, layoffs, redundancies, square enix

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Streamline Studios streamlined

November 23, 2009

Streamline Studios has shut its Amsterdam office with the loss of 10 jobs, according to GamesIndustry.biz. Reading the interview in more depth (and confirming that the website is down) makes it look as if Streamline has, in fact, shut its doors. VP Hector Fernandez blamed the economic crisis but also publishers, saying “entire industry wants [...]

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Posted in: Game Over Zone

Tagged with: closures, job loss tracker, layoffs, redundancies, streamline studios

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Murdoch’s plans to cut off Google will increase his revenue

November 23, 2009

Rupert Murdoch has taken aim at Google for “stealing his content”. Google has riposted by saying that news content “is not a big part of how we generate revenue”. Observers have argued that Murdoch doesn’t get the Internet and will destroy his own business. But maybe he just gets it better than we do. Murdoch’s [...]

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Posted in: Marketing, Opinion

Tagged with: google, microsoft, monetisation, news corp., starred

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Updating the technology

November 23, 2009

I spend the weekend updating the website. Upgraded WordPress. Optimised the database. Stripped out a bunch of unnecessary plugins/widgets. I also spent ages hunting down the bug that stops the “previous posts” button from taking to you a page full of previous posts. Couldn’t solve it. #fail. Download time is improved by 20-30%, but still [...]

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Posted in: Sandbox

Tagged with: gamesbrief, update

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