BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Hydro_PT
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BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Unfortunately, not all news are always good news. EA BlackBox, the studio responsible for this year's Need For Speed: The Run and the first Massive Multiplayer Online Racing Game in the NFS series (Need For Speed: World), was hit with layoffs while the studio goes through a transformation. Here's the official quote:
"EA in Vancouver is transforming its studio to align with EA's transformation to high-growth digital formats, including online, social gaming and free-to-play," an EA spokesperson told IndustryGamers. "The Need for Speed World team in Burnaby is leading the digital transformation with 11 million registered players. As the BC studio makes this transformation, a small number of employees are being impacted while most others are being retrained, redeployed and rolling-on to new projects."
EA has recently reported a net loss of $205 million in the third quarter, but is seeing significant positive transformation in increased digital product sales.

We at NFSUnlimited.net wish our best to all the employees who were affected by this situation, and we hope they can get a job in the near future.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by Dr Houbenheimer »

Interesting news... any idea how this may affect the future of NFS as well as other EA franchises?
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by deadmoroz14 »

EA BlackBox, the studio responsible for this year's Need For Speed: The Run and the first Massive Multiplayer Online Racing Game in the NFS series (Need For Speed: World)
what about Motor City Online?
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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deadmoroz14 wrote:what about Motor City Online?
Well, the definition of Motor City online is not really consensual. Some consider it a MMORG, while others say that the game lacked some the elements needed to be considered a true MMORG. And since it had many problems, it didn't last enough time. There are few games that fit in this category of MMORG. I can recall TrackMania, Test Drive Unlimited and, of course, World. Since EA has also stated that there is no relation between Motor City online and World, I assumed they don't consider it a proper MMORG. According to them, the first proper MMORG in the Need For Speed series is in fact World. :)

@Dr. Houbenheimer: BlackBox has been "suffering" a lot in the past years. Their games don't sell enough and they aren't well received by critics. I'm amazed EA hasn't decided to shut down the studio yet. :? Even now, with World getting more and more players everyday, they are not working well enough, in my view, to keep up and running. I don't know what future is there for NFS series, but I think EA should look for a new studio to keep making NFS games. Criterion did a great job in 2010, so they could have a chance in the future to develop another NFS. Slightly Mad Studios is no longer working for EA, as far as I know. They managed to establish themselves as a producer, with their simulator Project CARS and Test Drive: Ferrari.

The future is dark for BlackBox...
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by Dr Houbenheimer »

Looks like we'll have to 'watch this space' then.

I can't see I feel to bad about the partial demise of Blackbox, considering their mediocre efforts in recent years, just hope this works out well positively for the series. If someone else takes the reigns to NFS, then we could see a positive new era for the series, so this could turn out to be good or bad I guess.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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ok, and the bad news?
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Dr Houbenheimer wrote:Looks like we'll have to 'watch this space' then.

I can't see I feel to bad about the partial demise of Blackbox, considering their mediocre efforts in recent years, just hope this works out well positively for the series. If someone else takes the reigns to NFS, then we could see a positive new era for the series, so this could turn out to be good or bad I guess.
I thought the NFS series were on a positive era until The Run. In my opinion, both SHIFT games and Hot Pursuit were actually good NFS games. That's from 2009 until 2011. Then The Run was released and things went back to below-average levels, just when I expected to have a good game (especially given the time the dev. team had to develop the game).

I think Criterion is EA's best shot at the moment. Of course I don't know what other producers they have in mind, but since they did a good job with Hot Pursuit, maybe they will get another opportunity. Some time ago EA was doing a poll on Facebook to find out what's the favourite NFS game, and Most Wanted came as a final choice. Maybe they are thinking of doing a proper sequel of an older NFS game? They know players keep asking for Underground 3 or Most Wanted 2 so... who knows. However, we still have World there, which is pretty much like an U2/MW sequel in most things... I don't know. I wouldn't mind a proper remake of Porsche Unleashed, but that's me. :D
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by datass »

umm... far as I know criterion DID get another opportunity. they are working on the next (or a future) nfs game...

sullivan tw33ted about it a few weeks ago...

what they need to make is another hot pursuit or most wanted game, but a proper one this time... not under developed like undercover or chopped down like hot pursuit 2010...

anyway glad black box is slowly being closed, they can't make good games anymore. i mean, 3 years and all they could deliver was a 2 hour cinematic racer? that just ain't right...
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by Carloz »

They should fire the leaders for poor vision, not the little people. If the leaders remain, they will continue making poor profits.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Yeah I agree that Shift 1/2 were solid games, but it's kind of a spin-off series - thus the dropping of the 'Need for Speed' prefix in Shift 2 Unleashed. So while that side of the series remains solid, the other side - the Undercover/The Run etc. side, lacks a long term direction going forward. If they release a strong game outside the Shift's it would be good to see.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Dr Houbenheimer wrote:Yeah I agree that Shift 1/2 were solid games, but it's kind of a spin-off series - thus the dropping of the 'Need for Speed' prefix in Shift 2 Unleashed. So while that side of the series remains solid, the other side - the Undercover/The Run etc. side, lacks a long term direction going forward. If they release a strong game outside the Shift's it would be good to see.
emm it is a spin-off series :-/ like V-rally
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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I'm actually impressed not by the news, but by the reaction in the nfs community.

Well...Blackbox doomed itself long time ago. They were just not capable of delivering a proper game after Most Wanted, that was just the pinnacle of their best. After that, with Carbon and so forth, things went to hell, reaching a bottom with Undercover.

I was truly faithful that they could make it this time, but The Run just collects all those bad ideas from other game series and put it together into 2 discs.

I posted my solution for the NFS series in a previous thread, so yeah....I'm actually happy that this happened, mainly because it will help the series to have a fresh look with a new developer or set of developers inside BlackBox...but also I'm sad for those guys who have lost their jobs, independently of what they did, they're human beings in need to feed their families and to live of course.

I hope this entire topic about the NFS series can be resolved in the short time, and the developer or developers that take the responsability of the series can learn from the mistakes BlackBox did in the past and can avoid them :)

GG BlackBox :)
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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datass wrote:
Dr Houbenheimer wrote:Yeah I agree that Shift 1/2 were solid games, but it's kind of a spin-off series - thus the dropping of the 'Need for Speed' prefix in Shift 2 Unleashed. So while that side of the series remains solid, the other side - the Undercover/The Run etc. side, lacks a long term direction going forward. If they release a strong game outside the Shift's it would be good to see.
emm it is a spin-off series :-/ like V-rally
That's what I said, a spin off series.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Dr Houbenheimer wrote:
datass wrote:
Dr Houbenheimer wrote:Yeah I agree that Shift 1/2 were solid games, but it's kind of a spin-off series - thus the dropping of the 'Need for Speed' prefix in Shift 2 Unleashed. So while that side of the series remains solid, the other side - the Undercover/The Run etc. side, lacks a long term direction going forward. If they release a strong game outside the Shift's it would be good to see.
emm it is a spin-off series :-/ like V-rally
That's what I said, a spin off series.
yeah well you said ''kind of''

anyway
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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To me, both SHIFT games are Need For Speed games, not spin-off series. I know they were made by another producer, with a different target public in mind, but they still feel NFS to me in pretty much everything. :)

But of course that's one way of looking at it. I can understand how for some they look like spin-off game. To me, they are pure Need For Speed.

@xturbo: I understand you. It's a mixed feeling, isn't it? Some guys will lose their jobs which is not good, but at the same time EA can hire better people and that's probably what that studio really needs. New people, new ideas, a new NFS game.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by datass »

they weren't as boring as Forza or GeeTee I'll give ya that but...

don't know, only sim I ever liked was Pro Street. why? for the same reason that made other nfs games (even the suckier ones) worth playing: it tried to be interesting. and succeeded at that, but failed from other points of view...
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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ProStreet is not a simulator, and so aren't SHIFT 1 and 2. But that's another story. :P

I enjoyed ProStreet at the time. Sometimes the handling would be a pain in the a** (especially slower cars on tight tracks), but those highway races were quite nice, and even though the damage system wasn't as good as they showed in the first trailer, I had a good time crashing cars. :D
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Hydro_PT wrote:ProStreet is not a simulator
i so hate it when people say that. first off, i don't care how realistic it is, as long as i have to floor the brake in order to take a corner without dying, and as long as i'm racing on a track and not on a busy city street with over 9000 cops after me, it's a simulator.

secondly, forza, shift or gt don't get closer to realism than final fantasy or mario. it just seems that way.

lastly, *whines about realism in vydia gaems*

i agree about the controls... i mean i understand sims (OR wannabe sims, whatever) and keyboards don't mix, but pro street cars handled like giant ice cubes even with the steering wheel...
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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datass wrote:i so hate it when people say that.
Get used to it. I keep saying it all the time. I honestly can't help myself with that. If ProStreet/SHIFT/Forza/GT are simulators, what are then GTR Series, Race Series, NetKarPRO, rFactor? Super simulators? :lol:

Anyway, that's a whole another topic hehe. I played PS mainly with my wheel. I tried with the keyboard, but it was just impossible. :D It was only ok for drag racing, really, and even then it was quite hard to control the burnout with the keyboard.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Hydro_PT wrote:
datass wrote:i so hate it when people say that.
Get used to it. I keep saying it all the time. I honestly can't help myself with that. If ProStreet/SHIFT/Forza/GT are simulators, what are then GTR Series, Race Series, NetKarPRO, rFactor? Super simulators? :lol:

Anyway, that's a whole another topic hehe. I played PS mainly with my wheel. I tried with the keyboard, but it was just impossible. :D It was only ok for drag racing, really, and even then it was quite hard to control the burnout with the keyboard.
it wasn't impossible. i finished PS with the keyboard and although i trashed pretty much every car i've had, i can't say it was difficult... finishing the game that is, not trashing the cars. lol.

shift on the other hand is literally impossible...
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

Post by Dr Houbenheimer »

In regards to Prostreet, it was a tweener, leaning more to the arcade side of things. For someone growing up with the full on arcade experiences of UG --> Carbon, I can understand the perception, but within the broad spectrum of racing titles, it doesn't come close to a simulator.

I played Prostreet through on a keyboard, but that's just what I'm more used to. As always it's mainly preference - I for one had no hope with the keyboard playing HP.
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Re: BlackBox hit by layoffs

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Dr Houbenheimer wrote:In regards to Prostreet, it was a tweener, leaning more to the arcade side of things. For someone growing up with the full on arcade experiences of UG --> Carbon, I can understand the perception, but within the broad spectrum of racing titles, it doesn't come close to a simulator.

I played Prostreet through on a keyboard, but that's just what I'm more used to. As always it's mainly preference - I for one had no hope with the keyboard playing HP.
emm... i played nfs since the first one came out on panasonic :-/ and test drive since the second one...

simulators never appealed to me, at least not the ones that forget that at the end of the day they are still games. i like a nice physics based driving mechanic as much as the next man (damn it criterion!) but full simulation is just plain boring...

despite HP's lack of any kind of physics, the keyboard controls f@&%*#g suck.
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