Annual X-mas Wizards of the Coast Layoffs
Rich Baker @ Wizards Community BlogToday, Wizards of the Coast eliminated my position. I have unfortunately been let go, after more than 20 years of employment with TSR/WotC.
Rich was at the forefront of Wizards of the Coast’s range of Forgotten Realms and core Third Edition D&D accessory books, and author of several novels set in and below Faerûn. He also answered questions about the Forgotten Realms at the Wizards website’s forums – see the below external links. He also headed design on the 4th edition D&D iteration of the Dark Sun Campaign Setting, along with numerous other credits for that edition of the game.
Also rumored to be let go was Steve Winter who joined TSR in 1981 as Games Editor.
Right on schedule WotC:
- Dec 2000 WotC Layoffs @ TheForce.NET
- Mar 2001 WotC Layoffs @ Salon – WotC Center in Seattle Closed
- Sept 2002 WotC Layoffs @ RPG.NET
- Jan 2003 WotC Layoffs @ The Seattle Times
- Dec 2005 WotC Layoffs @ Steve Jackson Games Forums
- Dec 2008 WotC Layoffs @ GameGrene.com
- Dec 2009 WotC Layoffs @ ENWorld
- May 2010 WotC Layoffs @ ENWorld
- July 2011 WotC Layoffs @ ICV2 (Also on ENWorld)
You can follow the Dec 2011 Layoff discussion at ENWorld’s Forum.
Nearly an annual trend ever since Hasbro acquired Wizards of the Coast in 1999 and it looks like there are not many of the old D&D guard on the permanent payroll.