Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet is facing serious layoffs, games canceled

These are tough times for Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet, as the shadow of layoffs looms over the studio. This isn't a rumor as well, it was confirmed by the company, and while there are no exact numbers, it is said to involve a large amount of people – ArenaNet counts around 400 staff.

Kotaku broke the news, revealing that Songyee Yoon, NCSoft's CEO (owners of ArenaNet) sent an e-mail to employees with the following statements:

“Our live game business revenue is declining as our franchises age, delays in development on PC and mobile have created further drains against our revenue projects, while our operating costs in the west have increased. Where we are is not sustainable, and is not going to set us up for future success.”

The e-mail included bits about cutting costs across the organization and merging ArenaNet and NCSoft’s publishing divisions.

This action involves some games being canceled. Apparently, ArenaNet was working on two games, with one of them being indefinitely suspended for a while now, and the other one remaining a mystery. The shift of staff from Guild Wars 2 to these new projects left the MMORPG suffering due to smaller resources, and the slow pace at which the development of the new games was moving ultimately led to this decision from NCSoft.

ArenaNet just made the following statement about this situation:

“We know you have a lot of questions about the future of Guild Wars 2. We want to share with you what to expect moving forward for the game. First and foremost, we are still fully committed to all of our players and ongoing support of the game. We will be moving directly from Living World Season 4 into Season 5 as promised, and we plan to continue a regular cadence of updates and releases.

We know Guild Wars 2 is important to you, and as our players, you are important to us. Rest assured that we are still working to add great new content to the game. We are deeply grateful to all of you for your support during this difficult time.”

We wish the best for everyone involved and hope that ArenaNet manages to live through these difficult times.