Smedley stepping down at DBG

toljar

This is pretty crazy, can't say I did not see it coming.

 

http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/22/daybreak-game-companys-john-smedley-steps-down-as-chief-executive-officer/

Kopogero

I'm shocked! Who would've thought?

It's truly sad what happened with SOE, being from the leader of MMO's to an indie company, but it has rightfully deserved its fate. I've spent $ totaling around $300 (half on SWG and DCUO), but beside those games they've failed to open my wallet with everything else they've delivered.

Arglebargle

Probably well deserved.

 

Also fits into the general takeover strategy where you don't know everything about the company you've snagged.   Keep the old guy around until you know the lay of the land, then boot him.

H0urg1ass

Ten years after NGE he's finally going.  I'd say it's 9 years and 11 months too late.  

Yes, I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect you precise history nerds.  Deal with it.

Sovrath

Originally posted by Arglebargle

Probably well deserved.

 

Also fits into the general takeover strategy where you don't know everything about the company you've snagged.   Keep the old guy around until you know the lay of the land, then boot him.

Well, sort of.

This type of thing is usually planned in advance. I've never worked at a company where the head(s) of the company, whether it was one I worked for that was acquired or one where we did the acquiring, if they stepped down, didn't have all this planned as well as an exit strategy.

So it's not really booting so much as the head of the company hanging around to insure a smooth transition then they take off and usually do the whole thing over again (start company, work it until it is attractive enough to be purchased, sell the company, grab some sort of golden award and move on.

SlyLoK

They should go rehire Dave now.. Landmark is beyond hope and EQNext probably isnt in any shape worth mentioning either. 

Kumapon

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Originally posted by Sovrath
Originally posted by Arglebargle Probably well deserved.   Also fits into the general takeover strategy where you don't know everything about the company you've snagged.   Keep the old guy around until you know the lay of the land, then boot him.

Well, sort of.

This type of thing is usually planned in advance. I've never worked at a company where the head(s) of the company, whether it was one I worked for that was acquired or one where we did the acquiring, if they stepped down, didn't have all this planned as well as an exit strategy.

So it's not really booting so much as the head of the company hanging around to insure a smooth transition then they take off and usually do the whole thing over again (start company, work it until it is attractive enough to be purchased, sell the company, grab some sort of golden award and move on.

---

I wonder how long this has been planned. I don't see Smed walking in and saying he's done being CEO, but I doubt they'd spring it on him. I figure they intended to remove him when they did the merger and he was sticking around for the benefit of stability.

Azaron_Nightblade

Awww, things just won't be the same now.

Arglebargle

Originally posted by Kumapon

 

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Originally posted by Sovrath

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Originally posted by Arglebargle Probably well deserved.   Also fits into the general takeover strategy where you don't know everything about the company you've snagged.   Keep the old guy around until you know the lay of the land, then boot him.

---

Well, sort of.

 

This type of thing is usually planned in advance. I've never worked at a company where the head(s) of the company, whether it was one I worked for that was acquired or one where we did the acquiring, if they stepped down, didn't have all this planned as well as an exit strategy.

So it's not really booting so much as the head of the company hanging around to insure a smooth transition then they take off and usually do the whole thing over again (start company, work it until it is attractive enough to be purchased, sell the company, grab some sort of golden award and move on.

---

 

I wonder how long this has been planned. I don't see Smed walking in and saying he's done being CEO, but I doubt they'd spring it on him. I figure they intended to remove him when they did the merger and he was sticking around for the benefit of stability.

Yeah, it's not like he was some young entrepreneurial lion selling his company:   SoE was pretty much his identity for over a couple of decades.   Thus the requisite  'He'll consult' language. 

 

Will be interesting to see;  I've got friends who worked for him at SoE, gotta talk to them and see if they are shedding a tear at these events, or singing 'Ding, Dong the Witch is dead!'.

craftseeker

Originally posted by Kumapon

 

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Originally posted by Sovrath

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Originally posted by Arglebargle Probably well deserved.   Also fits into the general takeover strategy where you don't know everything about the company you've snagged.   Keep the old guy around until you know the lay of the land, then boot him.

---

Well, sort of.

 

This type of thing is usually planned in advance. I've never worked at a company where the head(s) of the company, whether it was one I worked for that was acquired or one where we did the acquiring, if they stepped down, didn't have all this planned as well as an exit strategy.

So it's not really booting so much as the head of the company hanging around to insure a smooth transition then they take off and usually do the whole thing over again (start company, work it until it is attractive enough to be purchased, sell the company, grab some sort of golden award and move on.

---

I wonder how long this has been planned. I don't see Smed walking in and saying he's done being CEO, but I doubt they'd spring it on him. I figure they intended to remove him when they did the merger and he was sticking around for the benefit of stability.

It is pretty much six months since the buyout, so maybe the Lizard Squad thing hastened his departure by a week or two but it looks to me like this was part of the original deal.

killion81

Originally posted by Vutar
Many years too late for the numerous games he destroyed.

 

I know.  Poor Free Realms... right?

Iselin

Well... it's not like it's being handed over to an outsider... Russel Shanks has been the COO there for the past 13 years and was around as Chief Technology Officer before that. He was also a co-founder of Verant so his EQ roots are deep.

 

Russel's game credits for those interested: http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,90779/

 

 

H0urg1ass

I think a few of you either don't know about, or have forgotten, his recent twitter drama which probably has quite a bit to do with his sudden departure.

Kyleran

I'm sure emotions will range from "ding dong, the witch is dead" to "dancing in the streets"

Azaron_Nightblade

I always see people blaming Smed for destroying their games... but didn't he also make them in the first place?

IsilithTehroth

Yup, good thing too. He had a silver tongue that talked previously burned players into playing SoE games again but we found out the hard way. John Smedly kills any franchise or great new game quickly or eventually through his own means. Whether through cash shops, P2W, horrible decisions and outright arrogance.

SWG: We all know what happened to this.

Uo: Same deal as SWG

SW:Tor: Used one of the best IPs known, still they demolish any chance the game might have by making it a replica of WoW with Starwars skins; pretty much every part of the game save for voice acting and unique things like huttball were the only appealing part,but those also hurt the game. Solo, easymode game that should have been sandbox.

Dcuo: Could have been great, but they decided to not fix the bugs and lack of content and go the F2P cash shop route and ended up killing their game. Sad, great IP.

Planetside 2: completely ruined what made the first one good to cater to casual players that would quit quickly anyways and alienated his loyal fan base.

H1Z1: They took their time doing anything good on this game and it still is pretty terrible despite months to work on it. Yeah, Smedley we get it, its early access, that doesn't mean you can half-ass it.

EQlandmark: The premise of EQNext that seems to take their time adding anything significant except ways to spent money. The hope that EQNext was going to revolutionize the genre is pretty much dead.

 

For the past 3-4 years Smedley tried anything and everything to lie and spin his games and dabbled with many, to try to stop the impending doom SoE faced. He still never understood what mmo players want because he was too busy following the casuals and the WoW fluke.

In my opinion the mmo market is stagnant as hell still despite it suppose to be full of sandbox mmos now. Instead of we get kickstarter mmos that are terrible(Starcitizen), sandbox mmorpgs that have p2w and cashshops(ArcheAge), developers remaking a version of the same game but dumbed down(Aventurine: DFO>DF:UW) and mmos that had alot of potential but were squadered by bad decisions and failing companies(APB). 

We should have much more inovative mmorpgs like: Darkfall online(granted not as hardcore for some) that push the boundries, but instead we keep getting the same tripe(TESO). Yeah, I am still pretty jaded on the mmo scene. 

Iselin

Originally posted by h0urg1ass
I think a few of you either don't know about, or have forgotten, his recent twitter drama which probably has quite a bit to do with his sudden departure.

I think it's related too although the spin doctors will make sure we never know.

 

That makes more sense than the other scenario being discussed in this thread: that it was a planned exit after he agreed to saty on for a while to ensure a smooth transition.... well it's being transitioned to the second in command who is another SOE and EQ lifer. So unless we're talking about a multi-stage planned transition with multiple senior execs running the company sequentially (lol) this was unplanned and likely triggered by the Lizard Squad thing mentioned up top in the linked article.

zeroscloud

years too late, this turd should have been flushed a long time ago. 

Acebets70

How he survived so long is beyond me! He is the Lane Kiffin of gaming!

observer

I hope he wasn't pressured by investors, otherwise that Lizardsquad punk won.  If he left on his own volition, then i could understand.

Kumapon

The word "successful" is used far too often in that article. It does say he might come back in another position, though. Guess someone has to work the break-room Fry-a-lator if you want fresh Mozzarella Sticks on hand.

toljar

Even though he seemed to support his wallet more than the gamers, losing someone like him who has been around since the golden days of MMO's might be a big blow. Who really knows what happened behind the scenes during SWG - PS2 - EQ:N etc. with Smedley. Maybe he had his hand tied, and it is easier to blame a person than an entire comapny, and he knew that and was willing to take quite a few falls?

killion81

Originally posted by toljar
Even though he seemed to support his wallet more than the gamers, losing someone like him who has been around since the golden days of MMO's might be a big blow. Who really knows what happened behind the scenes during SWG - PS2 - EQ:N etc. with Smedley. Maybe he had his hand tied, and it is easier to blame a person than an entire comapny, and he knew that and was willing to take quite a few falls?

 

If you think the push for profits was bad under Smedley, wait until the investment company that purchased SOE for the sole reason of generating a profit on their investment replaces him.  SOE games under Smedley will look generous on the wallet in comparison.

Lobotomist

They sold SOE , fired all the really talented people , closed storybricks, killed EQN - all because Smedley was holding whole company hostage. The premium they had to pay him if they terminated him was so high that Sony decided to sell SOE instead. And sold it for penuts, with only one term that Smedley remains CEO.

The contract obviously had them obligate to keep him as CEO for determined period. That is over now.

One stinky bastard caused all this misery.

 

iixviiiix

He isn't gone , no doubt that his roots grow too deep to remove completely .

 

SlyLoK

Originally posted by Iselin

Originally posted by h0urg1ass
I think a few of you either don't know about, or have forgotten, his recent twitter drama which probably has quite a bit to do with his sudden departure.

I think it's related too although the spin doctors will make sure we never know.

 

That makes more sense than the other scenario being discussed in this thread: that it was a planned exit after he agreed to saty on for a while to ensure a smooth transition.... well it's being transitioned to the second in command who is another SOE and EQ lifer. So unless we're talking about a multi-stage planned transition with multiple senior execs running the company sequentially (lol) this was unplanned and likely triggered by the Lizard Squad thing mentioned up top in the linked article.

I would have to agree.