Massively

Rumor: Entire Faxion Online team laid off

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Rumors, Faxion Online

Although the Faxion Online team has weathered layoffs before, today it looks as though none have survived a recent culling.

According to a forum post citing a former UTV employee, it's rumored that the entire team has been given their pink slips. "It is now officially dead," the unnamed source wrote. "They laid off the rest of the Faxion team, so there is no one left to do anything."

Disney recently bought out UTV Ignition, which oversees Faxion Online, and there was some speculation that the Mouse House might be making cuts in this struggling PvP MMO and elsewhere. So far this is an unconfirmed rumor, and it remains to be seen what impact this will have on Faxion going forward if true.

Rumor: Entire Faxion Online team laid off originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Disney merges their internet and games groups

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Casual, Virtual worlds, Kids

As we reported last month, Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom has closed up shop after several years of operation. This is said to be in anticipation of their upcoming virtual worlds, including one based on the movie Cars and one on Tinker Bell. Yet recently, we've heard a new piece of information in the Disney business plan puzzle.

What they're working on is a merger between the Walt Disney Internet Group and the Disney Interactive Studios, effective immediately. This new group, entitled the Disney Interactive Media Group will be led by Steve Wadsworth, previously the president of the Disney Internet Group. It will cover all of their gaming endeavors from console to virtual worlds, which seems to be a positive step towards the company's focus on online gaming for kids.

Disney merges their internet and games groups originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video)

Akela Talamasca — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Academic, Massively Event Coverage

I applied for, and received an invitation to 'An Evening with Will Wright and Friends', held in Mezzanine, a swanky club in San Francisco's SOMA district on Thursday evening. I didn't know what exactly to expect, but I knew two things: 1) It wasn't going to be about Spore, and 2) It was Will Freaking Wright. How did I know Spore wasn't on the offering? 'Cause we're all kind of Spore'd out, aren't we?

I was right about the lack of Spore, but was pleasantly surprised and gratified to hear Will speak on a variety of topics -- James Bond, cosmonauts, Gilligan's Island as the predecessor of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics, Godzilla, Care Bears, Lost, Walt Disney, Battlestar Galactica, Spiderman, and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -- before finally wrapping it all up with the observation that the stories that resonate with us are deconstructible; we can reduce them to components, and using those components, build our own stories.

Finally, accepting questions from the audience, I asked him what advice he'd give NASA as they create their MMO. His friends never showed up, but man, Will Wright is always worth a listen. He knows his stuff so well and is such a wonderful speaker ... check out the video I shot after the break, and you'll see what I mean.

Continue reading GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video)

GDC08: An evening with Will Wright minus friends (video) originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments