CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson said in a recent Gamasutra interview that it was his responsibility to prevent layoffs at the Eve Online studio - a task he obviously failed at this week when the company announced that it would cut 20 percent of its employees.
"This is a major thing, and it’s something which it is my responsibility to avoid," said Petursson in an interview with Gamasutra.
The maker of Eve Online announced earlier this week that it had reduced its global workforce by 20 percent, eliminating more than 100 jobs in its home country of Iceland and in its U.S. offices.
The developer acknowledged that it had spread its resources too thin on its projects - Eve Online, Dust 514, and World of Darkness. The layoffs were part of a new direction for the company to sharpen its focus on its core games. Petursson went on to say that efforts were being made by CCP to provide former employees with new jobs at other studios.
"We're doing a lot of things," he said. "I've personally been contacted by many CEOs in the industry which have offered to help with finding employment for the people who are leaving, and that's a great thing to see. So we are connecting people with our industry friends, we are helping them with their resumes, we are helping them to make contacts, and things like that."
Comments
Re: CCP CEO Takes Full Responsibility for Recent Layoffs
This seems to be a popular thing these days. Something goes wrong at a company, CEO makes public statement "taking full responsibility", everyone goes, "Oh look, the CEO is taking responsibility, good for him/her." But nothing ever happens. Does the CEO return any of his stock options? Does he pay back any of his salary? Does he take a pay cut? "Taking responsibility" mean bupkiss.