The Alphaville Herald

M Linden’s Bloodbath! 30% of Lab Staff Axed!!!

by Pixeleen Mistral on 10/06/10 at 11:44 am

Rumors that 30% of the Lab staff were being terminated began circulating at about 8:30 PDT yesterday, along with word the Linden Lab office in Brighton was to close. By mid-afternoon the first official word appeared on the PRnewswire – "Linden Lab will also improve its geographic and cost efficiencies. The company’s product and engineering divisions will be combined. The software development teams will be consolidated in North America and customer support will be reconfigured to provide more scalable services. As a result, Linden Lab anticipates staff reductions of approximately 30 percent."

Mark Kingdon (M Linden) is quoted as saying, "We’ve emerged from a two-year investment period during which, among other things, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time improving reliability and the overall user experience. Today’s announcement about our reorganization will help us make Second Life® even simpler, more enjoyable, relevant and engaging for consumers starting with their first experience. It will also enable us to invest in bringing 3D to the web and will strengthen our profitability"

Korean players mourning the loss of a Linden staff member

A few hours later, M Linden posted an announcement to the Linden saying, "Though the company remains in a solid financial position, it has become clear that we need to make some hard decisions in order to bring current and future Residents the kind of product and experience we feel they deserve"

Meanwhile, players scrambled to catalog the dead and missing staff, as an anonymous source informed the Herald that drunk Linden staff were wandering the streets in San Francisco – some things never change. But with the sudden loss of around 100 positions, there is certain to be an impact on both the player experience and the long term direction of Second Life – for better or worse. For now, the Herald extends our sympathies to the fallen.