What Do Krome Layoffs Mean for Game Room?
posted Saturday Apr 24, 2010 by Scott Ertz
In March, Microsoft launched Game Room - a virtual arcade on your Xbox 360. The offering was developed as a partnership between Microsoft and Krome Studios and offered the ability to purchase full (digital) arcade cabinets of classic arcade games. Since launch, 30 cabinets have been added to the lineup with another 6 on the way next week. Although the service got off to a rough start, it does seem to be doing pretty well now.
On Thursday, Krome Studios confirmed rumors that they had laid off a number of employees earlier in the day via press statement.
We regret to confirm an unspecified number of positions have been eliminated today at Krome. The industry worldwide is facing new challenges and Krome is not immune to the effects of this. Beyond that, we cannot make a comment.
While the company has not officially announced numbers, reports seem to have it pegged between 30 and 50 positions eliminated. This is after a round of layoffs in November as well.
The question this all leaves is, "What is the future of Game Room?" In the short-term, we will see no change. The release schedule for games will be unaltered, as all of the announced games are already developed and ready to go. A spokesperson for Microsoft said,
Krome is a great partner and they are a talented group of developers we enjoy working with on 'Game Room.' Beyond that, we can't comment on behalf of Krome. Please contact them directly if you have more questions.
My hope is that by the time the existing stock of games is exhausted, either Krome will have fixed its budget problems or Microsoft will have found a more stable partner. Either way, I think Microsoft will find a way to keep the Game Room alive.
