Gaming Giant KixEye which had once ruled Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and other online gaming bastions, appears to have suddenly chosen to restructure itself. The unexpected reorganization move has resulted in retrenchment of over 100 employees.
As news of the layoffs made headlines on Tuesday, Kixeye, based in San Francisco, has become the eye of the storm. Nearly 25% of the staff at Kixeye appears to have been laid-off. Many of the castaways’ include entire teams of the engineering section.
Kixeye was formed in 2007 and over time has several popular online games in the industry- Backyard Monsters, Battle Pirates, War Commander as well as Backyard Monsters: Unleashed.
Kixeye games are typically for competitive players, with focus on ‘fidelity’ twinned with ‘accessibility,’ for online innovation as well as mobile ‘experiences.’
KixEye loyal Players Lose out on the Fun
The games are largely based on ‘raids,’ allowing players’ unique winning experience. However, in recent times the timing of the raids (moving it to monthly-basis from it bi-yearly) has not been well received. Rather than challenge-based wins, big-time players are able to fund and own the top-prize fleet as serious players can ‘invest’ in raids via repairs.
Further, at the center of discontent is the cost of these raids. As $50 per repair or a $500 to $1000 for big coin-owners bring ownership of the best fleet in the game, the merit of these games have been eroded, feel many.
Loyal Kixeye game players opine that recent gaming strategies introduced, such as nearly-weekly-raids schedules removed the fun from the games.
While sudden changes in the online gaming industry is no longer a surprise, the move to axe over 25% of the staff, including entire development-engineering team is definitely unexpected.
However, not all is lost for those laid-off. For given the ‘gaming spirit’ of ex-Kixeye developers, competitors are waiting to hire! Kixeye’s loss could well be more than lesser profits in the near future, if the ex-employees have their way at competitors!
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