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	Message: : Former Halo devs on why layoffs are becoming 'part of the budget' : : http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/267154/Former_Halo_devs_on_why_layoffs_are_becoming_part_of_the_budget.php : If you've ever wondered why layoffs seem to be part and parcel of most : triple-A development cycles, former Halo developers Marty O'Donnell and : Jamie Griesemer, now heading up their own studio, Highwire Games , have : offered an answer. : Speaking to Playboy in a wide-ranging interview, O'Donnell and Griesemer : explain that, for better or worse, layoffs are simply "part of the : budget," suggesting that the real problem is the way studios treat : those they're about to let go. : It's natural for a studio's talent pool to swell as a project nears its end, : says O'Donnell, who implies that most companies know they'll need to let : employees go - they simply don't tell them. : "As you’re screaming to the deadline of post-production on a game you : keep sucking all these people in that should be on the next project : already," says O'Donnell. "Then at the end, it’s like, oh, now : we need to fire you because we have nothing for you to do. We never spent : the time figuring it out nine months ago." : According to Griesemer, layoffs wouldn't necessarily be seen as a problem if : studios communicated with their employees. Those conversations, though, : never seem to happen, and that's a huge issue. : "[The studios] know it’s coming, they just don’t tell their employees : until the game is in the box. And to me, that’s kind of treating people : like cogs, like a resource," adds Griesemer. : "If you bring somebody in and say, look, we’re not going to be able to : pay you after the project ships, so you should be reaching out [to find : future projects], but please do stay and help us ship the game. : Ninety-five percent of the industry would do the right thing and stay : until the game is shipped. And then they’d already have something lined : up." : The other solution is to use contractors to finish up a project, which is : exactly what O'Donnell and Griesemer plan to do at Highwire. Aside from : allowing for transparency, it's a strategy that allows the studio to stay : agile while creating new opportunities for others. : "I think some places are doing better at [using contractors], And : [Highwire] is depending on it," says O'Donnell. : "[If] we get to a point where suddenly we know we need, say, ten times : more environments than we have the capability of doing [in-house], we hire : an outside environment art studio that’s really good and respected, and : those people have a job." : Find out more about Highwire, including new info on the studio's debut VR : title, Golem , over on Playboy .
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