Looks like EA threw out Mark Jacobs in the recent Mythic/Bioware rejiggering.

Early in May, Electronic Arts let me know that they wanted to make some changes within the Games Label and as a result of those changes I have been out of the office (and out of touch with the team, game, etc.) since that day.

He’s a classy guy, so what he is saying seems to be that EA fired him without notice and forbid him any time to wrap things up or say goodbyes. It happened to me, but I didn’t found the goddamn studio. At least he probably has a pile of money from the sale of Mythic to comfort him. Here’s hoping him the best.

Here’s a great article I found via Consumerist about how to talk to a friend who has been recently unemployed. I approve and would like to share the following quotes with suggestions:

1. Don’t ask “how’s the job hunt?”
Do you know how many times a day someone hears this if he is unemployed? Ten. And even if it’s not ten really, it’s ten in his head.

There’s a reason this is number one. Seriously, people ask me this in person or on Facebook or Twitter every time they contact me. Seeing that I have a blog and Facebook and Twitter, I am pretty open with my life, so you will probably know when the job hunt is going well. In the first few days after I was laid off, I had a lot of people ask: “So what are you going to do?” Uh, I dunno, look for another job?

It’s like when you know that a friend has a sick grandmother. You may think that asking about her shows you care, but it really just reminds your friend that grandma is sick. Ask about the weather, the Steelers, politics, anything but how the job hunt is going unless that is followed by:

5. Offer up one good contact.
You do not need to pretend that connecting in LinkedIn is going to help this person. I mean, they should have been building their network long before the layoff loomed. But you could offer up one person you know well who could talk with the person laid off.

The day I got laid off and was e-whining about it on Facebook, one of my ex-coworkers dropped me a ‘hello’ message and hooked me up with a contact that has led to one of my top prospects. Most people in the industry who I’ve talked to have the decency to say ‘I’d help you out, but we aren’t hiring.’ That’s fine too. It’s much more useful than ‘Sorry to hear it, man. Good luck.’

Just don’t tell me the same advice that everyone already knows. ‘Have you tried monster.com? Careerbuilder?’ Yes, I watched the Super Bowl too, guys. I love my parents dearly, but every time we have this conversation I want to blow my brains out:

Mom: Did you see that job on monster.com?
Me: What job?
Mom: Oh, your father found it. [Off phone] WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THAT JOB?
Mom: He says just go onto monster.com and type ‘designer’.
Me: Mom, there are a million different types of designers. Can Dad send me the link?
Mom: He says it is right at the top of the listings.
Me: That… doesn’t help.

7. Don’t be shy about gratitude
Tell a co-worker who’s been laid off that you miss him or her. And what you miss. It’s hard to keep up morale when you’re looking for a job. And so often we forget what we are talented at because rejection makes us feel totally un-talented.

It’s true. Yesterday I had an ex-coworker remark that he felt it ‘was a shame’ that I ‘never really got my chance’. And that absolutely made my day. When you send out your resume to fifty places and forty-eight ignore you while two say they aren’t interested, and you look at mouth-breathers still at your old employer who didn’t get fired, it’s easy to believe that the problem is fundamentally with you. It’s not. But sometimes one needs reminded.

I’d like to add my biggest idea to the list:

8. Don’t treat old coworkers like their unemployment is a conagious disease.

A week after I was laid off, I was allowed back to pack up my desk. The two guys who sat near me were there a typy-typing away on their project, but they never once turned around to say ‘It’s a bummer man, nice working with you. Stay in touch.’ They knew I was there. One of my former teammates made eye contact with me and then put his head down and walked away. Really, guys? Didn’t we just have lunch together a week prior? And I got along great with them. It really made me feel like shit.

Look, I know that you don’t know what to say to me. It’s uncomfortable for the both of us. But I’m still the same guy I was when I was pulling a paycheck from the corporate masters (a better person, even!), so if you sever ties with me or ignore me, I think that either: a) you only pretended to be friendly with me because we worked together and thus you are a big phony or b) you think that being pink-slipped is communicable or that your boss will be mad at you if they see you posting on my Facebook wall* and thus you are a big idiot. So phony or idiot, your choice.

I’m very glad (sorta) that there are so many comments on the linked article how COBRA is unaffordable for everyone. I thought it was just me.

*Unless you have a boss who watches your Facebook for any outpouring of support, ahem.

Figured I’d start trying to keep this all in one place. Keep in mind these are just the ones I can find news stories for. I know for a fact of other studios losing folks but since I don’t have a source to quote, I’m not adding to the list. Some line items aren’t particularly clear about a number of layoffs, but I will make an educated guess when I sum at the bottom.

Updated: 2/13/09

My official guess at this time is 5,700 or enough to fill about 38 Boeing 737 airliners.

“A recession is when your neighbor loses his job; a depression is when you lose yours.” – Harry S Truman

Well, my recession just turned into a depression as almost four years at Tiburon came to a close today. I won’t comment on it as it isn’t a very good idea, but I figured I’d let my readers know out of full disclosure. I haven’t decided what I am going to do next – move out of Orlando and find a new studio and give up the great living conditions and friends that I have in Orlando or move out of the industry, let the dream die and stay where it is warm and safe. I’ll keep everyone updated.

I guess I’ll have more time to post. If any of you all know somewhere that is looking for a mint condition designer, you know how to find me – my email address is on every page.

I said on New Year’s that I thought this would be my year for great things. Maybe it will be.

For me, this is the scariest article on the Inter-net/web/tron.

First, cost reduction is often a euphemism for “broad, sweeping layoffs of junior people so that the senior execs can buy another few Bentleys”

Second, acquiring Take Two Interactive?  Does EA really want that kind of negative publicity? Do they really want to scoop up a company that keeps trying to go bankrupt? If true, it would be an obvious sign that management does not trust the designers in the company with any sort of original thought and that buying ideas from the competition is better. With the titles EA has on the horizon, that seems pretty… well… to put it quite starkly, dumb.

I am consoled by the fact that this is just some analyst that has no idea what is really going on.