Lay offs at Zoo Tycoon developer Blue Fang
Source says company now without any development team
Blue Fang Games, the Zoo Tycoon developer based in Massachusetts faced lay offs last week, but sources disagree on the extent of the situation.
On Friday a source revealed to Gamasutra that the entire development team had been let go. Around 15 people were made redundant.
""The company is still attempting to procure new work, but that isn't likely," said the source. "All laid off developers have been told it is more prudent to find new positions."
But on Friday Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner revealed on his Twitter that he'd heard directly from Blue Fang CEO Hank Howie that while ten people had been cut, 20 remained. Howie blamed the end of the partnership with The Learning Company, which Blue Fang had worked with on titles like The Oregon Trail.
This statement was rejected by the original source, who reported there had been more lay offs since those tied to The Learning Company, with around 25 in total. They also stated that Blue Fang currently had no in house developers or senior staff.
Blue Fang was founded in 1998. Recently it has concentrated on Facebook titles, including Zoo Kingdom, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and The Oregon Trail, which has around 19,000 daily users.