Sony Online lays off hundreds, cancels Agency

wasnt enough info on the agency to get even excited about lol

@awheaten No sweetie, grown ups don't think in those terms. Grown ups have allegiances to people, not consoles or giant multinational corporations. I'm somebody with friends at SOE San Diego and others working in smaller gaming studios under the umbrella of Sony. I'm sure their coworkers are really sad that their getting fired made your gamespot visit less enjoyable, but I'll bet they wish you the best in your silly devotion to their bosses' bosses' bosses.

SO THIS MEANS PS3 PRICE DROP? :)

You have been exposed: you are a FanBox...

It's number one because it's big news. Just like it's big news when Microsoft lays people off, or Nintendo, or EA, or Activision, or any major game company. Don't believe me? << LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Now go into the search function, type the name of any game company you can think of followed by a comma followed by "lays off" or "fired" or "let go" or the like and see what you can find. People's livelihood is more important than your silly perception of how nicely the site is treating your favorite game console. Just because YOU don't want to read it here does not make it less newsworthy. Now stop being part of what makes gaming journalism so terrible and hush.

It was inevitable

@moozeditty You said, "There's too much kowtowing to the megacorporations as it is. If you don't want to learn about what's going on, stop reading, stay ignorant, it's your choice. The rest of us benefit from this information, people connected to the industry benefit from this information, the folks who lost their job are not beneath our notice." Couple of things: 1. U don't no me, so how do u know that I cannot connect w/other people who were laid off, I just don't want 2 read about it here. And because it is Sony, it is #1 on yaw blog listings (fanboys!) 2. That comment I copied and pasted just let me no u don't no the context of the article. This is not gaming news this is something every company through. M$ layoff, so does banks and other industries. Are u going 2 report those 2?... I think not. A gamer is a gamer... They just need 2 let us no that Agency isn't coming out and why, thats all. 3. Lastly, I never said u were humiliating me, I said ur TRYING 2 humiliate me. No1 is interested in ur blog and ur coming after me except u.

I was really looking forward to The Agency. :`(

I'm still in denial about all this...

Crap. I was looking forward to this game. SOE must have invested a ton of money into it by now, only to have it cancelled. I'm guessing the decision came from higher up. Sadly, this probably affects devs we got to know in the Matrix Online community (like Walrus), but I'm sure these talented people will all find new work.

@CaptainCrazy SOE has absolutely nothing to do with Final Fantasy XIV... it's a Square Enix property and game.

@awheaten Economics IS gaming news. Hundreds of people in the gaming industry losing their jobs IS gaming news. The development of a game getting cancelled IS gaming news. Get over your fanboyism and stop asking for less from a blog whose sole purpose is to deliver gaming news. There's too much kowtowing to the megacorporations as it is. If you don't want to learn about what's going on, stop reading, stay ignorant, it's your choice. The rest of us benefit from this information, people connected to the industry benefit from this information, the folks who lost their job are not beneath our notice. You don't need my help in humiliating yourself, you're doing fine.

Was really looking forward to The Agency. First Eight Days, then True Crime Hong Kong and now this? It's sad that 205 got fired. Hope they find work soon.

@CaptainCrazy SONY, not SQUARE ENIX ahahaha

@moozeditty This is not gaming news, this is economics. All I'm saying is that good new for this site. They get off on this. If they want to do this kind of journalism, they should work for CNN. Why don't you grow up and quit @ing me in your comments. Just make your oppinion known w/o trying to humiliate me. That is immature.

Desperate times. The thing is, people who loose their jobs become even more desperate, as their moral compasses fade. Sad for everyone these days.

I'm not surprised to see this after they released that heaping, steaming pile of turd that is FF14

4th month into 2011 & 205 being laid off...... Not the best way to start the year for those folks but hopefully they will find a new job soon. Good luck!

@awheaten You place your affection for a megacorporation over any demand that a gaming news blog post actual news about gaming. I'm sorry their timid attempts at journalism hurt your console's feelings, but maybe you would prefer your news delivered via youtube posts from sonyfan1998. Seriously, grow the ___ up.

Well thats a let down

Sad to hear about more companys laying people off, but SOE is pretty horrible. They lost me as a customer when they killed SWG, but looking at the MMO's they've done since, it hasn't been too hard to stay away. DCUO sold a lot of copies, but if those people aren't paying for renewing subscriptions, its a financial loss.

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

@moozeditty I'm am grown. Just stating the obvious. The fanboys are the ones who wrote this article.

Yeah layoff the poor schlubs that take orders, don't fire that stupid SOB John Smedley who caused this mess that SOE is in today. John Smedley created a company known for screwing over its customers and hyping stupid marketing gimmicks while fearing true innovation. SOE America will be defunct because of this boob and he will be the last one to lose his job.

@fadersdream Because losing your job is worse than getting your feelings hurt on the internet.

I don't find this too surprising. SOE has always been a paragon of mediocrity in the world of online games. Too bad people have to get laid off, but they'll survive.

money

They were no longer a viable business venture. That sucks. It's not like they had a choice in what they worked on, but 5 year development cycle is a death sentence for a studio unless the product shines with awesomeness.

@moozeditty why disrespect someone to make a point about respect?

april fools!

This is unfortunate for those who have lost their jobs. And I was looking forward to Agency. Sad to see games with so much potential not even make it to the market.

Planetside was great during its beta when they launched this amazing game where you could fly this bigass dropship into the middle of enemy zone hot drop a squad in while they stole the base... then they added the latice systemt that was like hey no we here at sony prefer you to zerg just zerg no skill we just wanna see whatever side that can put MORE people going for this one base cause you cant take any other one then this one connected to the last one turned the game from potential into boring ass seen it before dont wanna play it fps that had bad lag. So heres to you sony lets see how you manage to screw this one up.

NOOOOO! I've been waiting YEARS for the agency!! God dammit! Why do so much work on something then say 'oh well lets stop this and start something new.'

@awheaten Grow up, fanboy. This is major news. Show some respect to the folks who have lost their jobs.

its always a shame when you dont get to see if a game is good or bad for your self. i like to judge the games i play myself and not have it dictated to me by some one else.

Why are stories about Sony's misfortune always TOP stories on GameXboxSpot. That is really bogus.

Not surprising, i expected that the agency was cancelled 2 years ago. In all honesty, it looked like a ps3/xbox launch title, and every time they presented it, it looked more and more dated

I guess it really was better than alpha protocol.. Nobody was tricked into wasting sixty bucks on this game.

this definatly looks like an April fools story.

Im with SamiRDuran, couldnt have said it better myself. Although seemingly harsh and unforgivable, its a dead-on comment, as it applies to 90% of console gamers.

Planetside was an amazing game. Aside from the repetitive scenery and objectives (and sightly steep monthly fee for such things) it deserved to do better than it did as it was wonderfully balanced and truly unique for its day.

Sony has no furture for mmos maybe for the best oh well i knew the ageny wasnt comeing out and i know there fears the agent not coming out bu rockstar games

Yeah the Agency being cancelled doesn't come as a suprise at all. It just didn't seem to be happening. All went quite over a year ago. Shame about folks losing their jobs though. That's the thing with a recession, lots of companies just use it as an excuse to lay people off because normally they wouldn't have rights to do so. Im not saying that the gaming industry is guilty of this, but it wouldn't suprise me. Business is business.

Sucks

Sorry for the people who lost their jobs. These games may not have meant much to most ppl, but I was looking forward to at least TESTING The Agency. So no Agency, no Time Splitters 4, no Battlefront 3, all after having screen shots, gameplay and/or trailers. All games I was looking forward too. Again, more importantly, sorry to the ones who lost their jobs...

And the next day they will recieve a letter that sais "APRIL FOOLS!" *hope they get it sorted out and can help them get on track later

I won't miss the games that were discontinued at all, but I hope that the hundreds of people that were laid-off find jobs and have a decent income soon.

I pray that they can get on their feet. maybe pool together and start another project.

That's a large chunk of SOE gone, but nevermind, the redundant staff will probably be snapped up by another developer.