Network now...FEATURE
Source: Factor 5 Cuts 37
By Kris Graft
December 15, 2008
See also:
Related Articles:
"The thing that bothers me the most about it all is they could have avoided all of this ages ago. It wasn't really the Brash deal going south that was the big problem, but it didn't help much either."
A well-placed source has told Edge that a recent employee blog posting about layoffs and delayed pay at Lair developer Factor 5 is "all true."
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said 37 people were laid off from the San Rafael, Calif. studio on Friday afternoon. Around 38 people remain, he said.
"The last time staff got paid was October 15th," the source stated. Workers who were laid off could get paid back this week, although this is unconfirmed.
Word of trouble at Factor 5 went public earlier this month, when Sam Baker, an artist with the studio, posted in his personal blog that workers hadn't been paid for weeks, health care was nixed and a project eight months deep had been canned. The firm had been urgently scrounging for funding in order to maintain operations, said Baker.
He later updated his blog claiming the reason behind the troubles was the recent closing of licensed game producer Brash Entertainment.
To that, our source said, "The thing that bothers me the most about it all is they could have avoided all of this ages ago. It wasn't really the Brash deal going south that was the big problem, but it didn't help much either."
Factor 5, which was originally founded in Cologne, Germany, announced in March this year that it had a multi-game contract with Brash.
Since his blog posting, Baker has resigned from the studio. Our source said the widespread news coverage of Baker's post "was quite shocking" to the artist. "He's young, and was totally devastated by his new found fame. He didn't think anything of it, innocently posting his heartfelt concerns."
But that might not be the end of the effects surrounding the post, which was later deleted. "The kicker is, Factor 5 is thinking of suing [Baker] for good measure."
Multiple calls to Factor 5 were left unanswered as of press time.
Factor 5 made a name for itself on Nintendo platforms, developing technically impressive Star Wars titles in the Rogue Squadron series, among many other games.
The most recent game from Factor 5 was 2007's PS3 exclusive Lair, which flopped with critics and failed to light up sales charts.
Pity. I will say I'm not surprised Baker is under consideration for a lawsuit. Wonder if that post discouraged any would-be investors?
You don't need to read the blog of an unpaid employee to run away as an investor. The homepage of Factor5 is enough. It still lists Lair as "in production" in the games section. I suppose that does not mean that discs are being produced, else I might be interested in that "TBA" game for Xmas.
Sad to see Factor5 in trouble though, Turrican is on my list of games I'd like to see as a 1080p remake.
Blast! Lair may of sucked, but before Sony shoved a PS3 fork up their arse, this studio was awesome. Bring 'em back to nintendo's platform and give them full creative reign!