Cryptic Studios looks to be starting a period of layoffs and transitions, following previously announced moves to have fellow Embracer Group-owned Deca Games handle more of the development on Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, and Champions Online.
While there’s no word on just what the total impact will be, a previous Cryptic stream unveiling roadmaps and upcoming plans for all three titles did note that they were in the process of transitioning Deca employees to “take over the creation of some of the content”.
While it was encouraging to see content plans for these three titles were strong and moving forward, then-CEO Phil Frazier, who officially left Cryptic this summer, when asked if Deca devs would be “filling the gaps”, said “We're at a point in the life cycle where we need to make sure that we're continuing to run a good business behind [these long-running games] And we’ve got to look at things like cost, which isn't really a fun thing to talk about”.
Now, with Frazier gone, and former Star Trek Online Executive Producer Jarrod Fisher (who was also on that stream) now at DC Universe Online as Development Director, it does seem like those cost considerations are now coming into play. Back during that update, it was said that Cryptic would ultimately be more of a support team while the Deca developers transitioned into leading the process, so what this means for Cryptic Studios looks to be an entirely predictable set of new layoffs.
According to a now-deleted LinkedIn post from STO artist Gianna Rockwell, “Unfortunately at the end of the month, I will be part of the layoffs at Cryptic along with many of my other amazingly talented coworkers”. Star Trek Online’s Community Manager Mike Fatum also shared that he is set to depart “Like many folks posting today, I now officially know my last date with Cryptic Studios,” he shared in early October on LinkedIn.
The full impact is still to be seen, especially what it means for Cryptic Studios in its “support” role, which some are considering to be a kind of end for the longrunning MMORPG studio.