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Any more news on the FFG Roleplaying line?


mallet

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So it has been a week since all the rumors and tweets started about FFG laying off (not only their video game line which was confirmed) but also all (or a large amount) of their staff in their RPG wing. A few (now) ex-employees confirmed that their had been cuts to the RPG but no one (that I could find searching) said how many or what it meant for their games going forward. 

 

Does anyone on here know more about what might be happening with them?

 

I played a Star Wars campaign a few years back and actually grew to quite like the system and their books. Very nice quality and kind of surprising/sad that a company that big/popular with such a major IP can't even afford to keep it all going with in house staff. Are all non-D&D rpg's in that much trouble? 

 

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1 hour ago, mallet said:

Very nice quality and kind of surprising/sad that a company that big/popular with such a major IP can't even afford to keep it all going with in house staff. Are all non-D&D rpg's in that much trouble? 

 

It doesn't necessarily mean that the line is having issues.  Moving to freelancers may be in response to the changes in the rules/laws concerning employees and benefits and the size of a company.   I worked at a manufacturing company in WA which was expanding and having to hire more workers to meet the orders.   They hit a State Employee threshold that kicked in several new requirements, requirements that effectively tripled the cost the company had to pay per worker.   Basically, if you pay someone $10 an hour, the actual cost to the employer (taxes, insurance, etc) is probably $25 to $30 an hour for each employee.  The sudden tripling of the payroll liability has bankrupted companies before. In this case they had been accumulating capitol in preparation.  The problem now is that the local cities (in WA at least) are "adjusting" the thresholds for local tax requirements, many times without warning.   I know a few locals that closed their businesses when the discovered that their Mom & Pop shop that had had the same number of employees for 15+ years had been magically reclassified small to medium with the accompanying surge of payroll costs. 

 

I really don't know how large FFG really is employee wise.  But even large game companies are small and if a company can reduce costs by eliminating a division they will since will eliminate a full range of positions from entry level to manager.  And to be blunt, gaming has relied on free-lance talent far more than full time employees for ever and a day. 

 

Long and the short of it, the decision may not have anything to do with sales. 

Of course, it could also mean they announce the end of the line next week, or even the news that the IP is moving to another company. 

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