Today Wizards of the Coast announced it would be restructuring, in order to “focus on key growth strategies for core brands.” (see release below) As you’d expect, this means layoffs, though an exact number or any actual names hasn’t been revealed (ICv2 has heard the total is less than 5% of employees). I wonder how many of the layoffs are Gleemax related – it’d be a shame not to use that labor to get D&D Insider up to speed more quickly. As always, if anyone knows more, give us a holler.
Wizards press announcement follows:
Wizards Announces New Organizational Alignment
Wizards of the Coast today announced new organizational alignment to focus on key growth strategies for core brands.
“As a company, we will continue to be the leader in entertaining the lifestyle gamer,” said Greg Leeds, President of Wizards of the Coast. “Re-aligning resources ensures we achieve this goal for our most powerful brands.”
While restructuring results in some job eliminations, Wizards of the Coast is actively recruiting to fill open positions in multiple areas of the company.
“Organizational change is always difficult on those impacted,” said Leeds. “But we will take great care in the transition, and continue to invest in the growth of the business, specifically innovation for our Magic and Dungeons & Dragons fans.”
The Gleemax labor probably isn’t transferable; web apps and highly graphical desktop apps require completely different skill sets in the age of the hyperspecialized programmer.
Shame, that. Here’s hoping everyone hit by this lands on their feet.
Geek Related posts that Mike “Gamer Zero†Lescault and Linae Foster, D&D Licensing Manager, were among the casualties.