Turbine Suffers Layoffs, Will Become "Free-to-Play, Mobile Development Studio"
Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine has been hit with a round of layoffs, MassivelyOP has confirmed. The news was originally hinted at by former community manager Rick "Sapience" Heaton and later confirmed in a message from Warner Brothers:
"Turbine is transitioning into a free-to-play, mobile development studio, and as a result we are eliminating some positions. The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons online games will continue to operate as they do now. Re-focusing and reducing the studio size was a difficult decision for the company, and we are grateful to all of the Turbine staff for their considerable contributions."
What exactly a pair of aging MMOs has to do with a "mobile development studio" is unclear but you'd have to be pretty optimistic to think it's good news -- especially since the Lord of the Rings license expires in 2017.
Our condolences go out to those looking for new employment this week.
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Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
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Pity tho, DDO is one of a kind mmo.