Stuff behind the cut.


You might remember a post I made a while back, which, in summary, I said that at my old job, the company was trying to secure a new project for my studio, but were dragging their feet and because of that, I got sick of it and found a new job, which I've been working at for the last few weeks. I left a more lucrative and fun job in which I worked with my husband, and went to a lower-paying job with stability, and I was pleased with the decision.

Well, the uncertainty at the old job has come to an end, and it's not a good one. The company failed to bring in the project and is now going to close down the studio, letting go about twenty people, including my husband. I have to say, the first thing I thought when I heard the news was, "Man, am I glad I got out when I did!" If I hadn't, that'd be both of us out of a job.

To be completely clear, the company wasn't to blame on this. They got all their ducks in a row and made an offer for the project, and the owner of the other company basically fucked us over. Part of it was that he was trying to protect his own interests. He didn't tell his employees that he was selling the project (!!!), so he waited as long as he could to consider the offer because he didn't want to upset them. Then he realized that he didn't have anything for them to work on for a couple of months between the project he was selling and the new one he was getting in, so he tried to draw out the deal with us even longer. When he finally couldn't delay the decision any longer, he told us that he wasn't going to sell, "but come back in two months and we'll renegotiate." Our company decided forget it, they're not going to be toyed with like that again - and I don't blame them one bit; can you imagine how much money was wasted preparing the offer and doing the due diligence? - but that meant closing the studio because there just isn't any work for them.

I'm not sure at all where all of this is going, but at least, with my situation, my husband and I are doing okay. Not nearly as optimistic for our friends. There are a few job openings at my company that might just snap up some of them (including hopefully my husband), and the rest of the software and gaming community in town is trying to put out the safety nets.