Article:
Icarus Studios Restructuring

James Hettinger – CEO of Icarus Studious, the indie developer of the post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth - has announced the internal restructuring of the company’s resources and staff today. The official word on the matter is as such:

• While this is a challenging step for us, the steps were taken to maintain the growth, continued development and profitability of Fallen Earth. As a result of today's reorganization and in an effort to maintain development, the combined companies will support core members of staff for ongoing customer service and continued development of Fallen Earth and company projects. Team leads are continuing production and development on Fallen Earth Blood Sports Patch 1.4, scheduled for release on May 7. Community support and scheduled events, such as Slots Night (scheduled for tonight, April 30), will continue as announced.

However, there have been rumors floating around on the internet that the restructuring is far more severe than the above blurb suggests. The Escapist in fact just ran a piece today saying Icarus was all but shuttering its doors today:

• According to our source, employees were asked to meet together at approximately 10:30 this morning, where they were told that the studio would be closing, effective immediately. They could remain until approximately 1 PM, say their goodbyes, clean up their things and collect a final paycheck, but that was that. Our source also says that much of the equipment (motion-capture cameras and the like) had apparently been sold.

In an attempt to settle all the hoopla and set the record straight, Fallen Earth Administrator Circatrix posted the following:

• Hi all. Thanks for your questions and for your interest in what's going on with the company. Some of you who know staff understand that this was a difficult step for us. As of today, there are 28 core staff members plus customer support staff and GMs. We believe in our product--we know we have a great game, and we have an amazing community. None of this will change. We are on time for Blood Sports Patch 1.4 next Friday, and we are on schedule for subsequent content updates. The decisions made today regarding staff are for the general health of the company and the game as a whole, and we don't anticipate any changes on the player side of things. Servers are up, customer support and GM guidance are still in place, and our production schedule is still on target. We appreciate your support and dedication to us personally, to our team, and to Fallen Earth.
1 2