Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs
Bethesda, id Software reportedly hit hard by Microsoft layoffs
据报道，Bethesda 和 id Software 在微软裁员中遭受重创
In announcing plans for 3,200 layoffs across the Xbox division yesterday, CEO Asha Sharma focused on discussing cuts to the Xbox platform team and redundant layers of middle management. Now, though, word is filtering out about significant staffing cuts at remaining Microsoft-owned game developers including id Software and Bethesda.
在昨天宣布 Xbox 部门计划裁员 3,200 人的消息时，首席执行官 Asha Sharma 主要讨论了对 Xbox 平台团队的削减以及精简冗余的中层管理架构。然而，目前有消息传出，包括 id Software 和 Bethesda 在内的微软旗下游戏开发商也出现了大规模的人员裁减。
Apogee and 3D Realms founder Scott Miller—who helped publish some of id’s earliest games—wrote on social media yesterday of “insider reports” that a majority of id had been laid off, “including most (if not all) coders.” And last night, veteran programmer Michael Maynard—whose credits at id Software date back to 2011’s Rage—wrote on LinkedIn that he was among the “roughly 50%” of the id team that was let go Monday.
Apogee 和 3D Realms 的创始人 Scott Miller（曾协助发行过 id Software 最早期的几款游戏）昨天在社交媒体上写道，根据“内部报告”，id Software 的大部分员工已被解雇，“包括大部分（如果不是全部的话）程序员”。昨晚，资深程序员 Michael Maynard（他在 id Software 的工作经历可追溯到 2011 年的《狂怒》）在 LinkedIn 上发文称，他属于周一被解雇的 id 团队“约 50%”成员之一。
Game Developer cites “multiple anonymous sources” in confirming those reports, saying the redundancies amount to about 90 employees at the Doom studio. The first DLC pack for last year’s Doom: The Dark Ages launched earlier today.
《Game Developer》援引“多位匿名消息人士”证实了这些报道，称这家《毁灭战士》(Doom) 工作室的裁员人数约为 90 人。去年推出的《毁灭战士：黑暗时代》(Doom: The Dark Ages) 的首个 DLC 包已于今天早些时候发布。
Id co-founder John Romero wrote in a social media thread about his sorrow over the layoffs, saying that the people behind the current incarnation of the company “have done a great job” maintaining its legacy. “Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein are not easy names to carry on, especially in today’s industry,” he wrote. “The last few games showed real care, skill and respect for what those worlds mean to people.”
id Software 联合创始人 John Romero 在社交媒体上表达了他对裁员的悲痛，称目前公司团队“做得非常出色”，很好地传承了公司的遗产。“《毁灭战士》、《雷神之锤》(Quake) 和《德军总部》(Wolfenstein) 这些名字并不容易延续，尤其是在当今的行业环境下，”他写道，“最近的几款游戏展现了真正的关怀、技巧，以及对这些世界在玩家心中意义的尊重。”
Romero also urged Microsoft to preserve the code and documents associated with the current version of id, as Romero says he has for the incarnation he helped lead until 1996. “Just really sad that this is how id Software, the pioneer/innovator of FPS action games is relegated to just another ‘reorganization’ of assets,” Maynard wrote in his LinkedIn post.
Romero 还敦促微软保留与当前版本 id Software 相关的代码和文档，正如他自己保留了 1996 年前他所领导时期的资料一样。“作为 FPS 动作游戏的先驱和创新者，id Software 最终沦为资产‘重组’的牺牲品，这真的令人非常难过，”Maynard 在他的 LinkedIn 帖子中写道。
Meanwhile, IGN obtained an email from Bethesda President Jill Braff to staffers expressing “sincere gratitude” to “a number of our colleagues” who were impacted by the layoffs. IGN says employees at Bethesda Studios were “hit particularly hard” by the layoffs, while remaining staffers are “facing an uncertain future” as Microsoft said it is planning to lay off 1,600 more employees throughout this fiscal year (in addition to 1,600 let go yesterday).
与此同时，IGN 获得了一封 Bethesda 总裁 Jill Braff 发给员工的邮件，她在邮件中向受裁员影响的“多位同事”表达了“诚挚的感谢”。IGN 表示，Bethesda Studios 的员工在这次裁员中“受创尤为严重”，而留任的员工则“面临着不确定的未来”，因为微软表示计划在本财年内再裁员 1,600 人（加上昨天解雇的 1,600 人）。
The changes in strategy and headcount mean that Bethesda “need[s] to change course,” Braff wrote in her email, transforming into a company “that focuses on our strongest franchises.” That could be bad news for newer franchises like Starfield and for The Elder Scrolls Online, with the latter game losing as much as half of its developers, according to a Kotaku report.
Braff 在邮件中写道，战略和人员编制的调整意味着 Bethesda “需要改变航向”，转型为一家“专注于我们最强 IP”的公司。据 Kotaku 报道，这对《星空》(Starfield) 等较新的 IP 以及《上古卷轴 OL》(The Elder Scrolls Online) 来说可能是个坏消息，后者损失了多达一半的开发人员。
“We must strengthen our business, return to sustainable growth, and ensure we can continue investing in our franchises and our players,” Braff continued in her message to employees. “I know that doesn’t make a day like today any easier.”
“我们必须加强业务，回归可持续增长，并确保我们能够继续投资于我们的 IP 和玩家，”Braff 在给员工的信息中继续写道，“我知道这并不能让今天变得好过一些。”