Report: Camelot Unchained Developer Unchained Entertainment Cuts Nearly Half Its Workforce | MMORPG.

System · January 27

Report: Camelot Unchained Developer Unchained Entertainment Cuts Nearly Half Its Workforce | MMORPG.com

Camelot Unchained's developer, Unchained Entertainment, has reportedly been hit with layoffs, with seemingly almost half of the employees let go.

Read the full story here

Sarla · January 27

LOL

Aeander · January 27

That's tragic, but expected. I mean they literally almost had more devs than players.

Tiller · January 27

. And suddenly!

.

. nothing happened!

.

. But it happened suddenly!

Elidien_ga · January 28

Twelve years and all they have to show is some half-made demo game that nobody asked for. 42 players? Thats more than I expected.

Najagaming · January 28

Biggest mistake...years waiting for a refund...they dont even reply to the emails. SCAMMERS

Angrakhan · January 28

Ah I remember backing this at a very low level due to my experience with Star Citizen. Still, I had high hopes because I loved both DAoC and WAR. I figured if anyone could get a game out the door it was Jacobs. Then we got this endless parade of devs talking on a sofa instead of actual deliverables. That's when I got concerned. I never asked for a refund and still don't want one. It was like whatever level was the price of a boxed game. Whatever, water under the bridge to me. My guess this is the beginning of the end. If I were a dev on that team I'd have my resume out at anyplace that was hiring right now. You don't just cut half your workforce and have any sort of realistic expectations you're going to recover from that.

Scot · January 28

Najagaming said:

Biggest mistake...years waiting for a refund...they dont even reply to the emails. SCAMMERS

Welcome to the forums!

I wish we could welcome you in better circumstances but there you go.

harken33 · January 28

Camelot Unchained, hard to believe the announcement of the second game Final Stand Ragnarök was almost 5 years ago to the day and the heated discussions it launched.

The stream with Jacobs doing refunds a few months later was almost 5 years ago as well.

Digdugger · January 28

I don't buy in to the 'It's gonna fail within 6 months' prediction crowd, but way back when, when people were saying this was never coming.... They actually might have been right. It might be time to just let it go.

Sarla · January 28

Digdugger said:

I don't buy in to the 'It's gonna fail within 6 months' prediction crowd, but way back when, when people were saying this was never coming.... They actually might have been right. It might be time to just let it go.

Sorry but its way past time to let this one go

cameltosis · January 28

I mean, given teh timeframes involved and the general state of the MMO industry, im not surprised.

Still, its a shame, CU was aiming to have a whole bunch of features that I was really looking forwards to. Horizontal progression, deep combat, large scale pvp, full creative building in the game world. I was really looking forwards to playing this game.

olepi · January 28

I'm reminded that DAOC was done in 18 months with 25 developers.

Why do today's games take a decade and still aren't finished?

Wargfoot · January 28

olepi said:

I'm reminded that DAOC was done in 18 months with 25 developers.

Why do today's games take a decade and still aren't finished?

Because they focus on dumb stuff like server meshing.

Germzypie · January 29

I am informed that Mark will address the media when he returns from vacation. He is currently on his yacht in Tahiti enjoying an endless supply of memosas paid for by crowdfunding.

Scot · January 29

olepi said:

I'm reminded that DAOC was done in 18 months with 25 developers.

Why do today's games take a decade and still aren't finished?

The old games didn't need to go to early access first, development takes more time these days.

Kyleran · January 29

olepi said:

I'm reminded that DAOC was done in 18 months with 25 developers.

Why do today's games take a decade and still aren't finished?

When DAOC released it wasnt very polished, would have been called an early access by today's standards.

I recall reading a review in CGW that early on they only had 20 levels, Hibernia realm was half finished (even today it suffers from less PVE content past level 35) and the graphics were atrocious.

The classes were horribly unbalanced and massive nerfs to rangers, chain wizzies (clerics), crowd control and stealth left many players angry.

Took them about 6 months to a year to settle things down and some argue it wasn't until the Shrouded Isles expansion a year later when the game really hit its stride. (I first started playing in June 2022, just ahead of SI release)

Still, the studio put out an amazing amount of content (7 expansions between 2002 and 2007) in a very short time compared to development today.

https://camelotherald.fandom.com/wiki/Expansions

Slapshot1188 · January 29

It's not necessarily the worst news if this was all related to Ragnarok... but the fact that the studio and Marc have been totally silent is a really bad sign IMHO

Kyleran · January 29

I'm hoping Mark's silence isn't related to problems with his wife's health, as she is a cancer survivor. If so then I'll take some of what I have said back.

TiamatRoar · January 29

Kyleran said:

olepi said:

I'm reminded that DAOC was done in 18 months with 25 developers.

Why do today's games take a decade and still aren't finished?

When DAOC released it wasnt very polished, would have been called an early access by today's standards.

I recall reading a review in CGW that early on they only had 20 levels, Hibernia realm was half finished (even today it suffers from less PVE content past level 35) and the graphics were atrocious.

The classes were horribly unbalanced and massive nerfs to rangers, chain wizzies (clerics), crowd control and stealth left many players angry.

Took them about 6 months to a year to settle things down and some argue it wasn't until the Shrouded Isles expansion a year later when the game really hit its stride. (I first started playing in June 2022, just ahead of SI release)

Still, the studio put out an amazing amount of content (7 expansions between 2002 and 2007) in a very short time compared to development today.

https://camelotherald.fandom.com/wiki/Expansions

Yea, all those problems and time frames you listed still beats out Camelot Unchained releasing with THIS after five years.

Wargfoot · January 29

Kyleran said:

I'm hoping Mark's silence isn't related to problems with his wife's health, as she is a cancer survivor. If so then I'll take some of what I have said back.

Too late.
You'll have to smoke a turd in purgatory for your comments.

Babuinix · January 29

Roberts fault

OldKingLog · January 30

Feels for the backers of this game

Image: https://media1.tenor.com/images/4e2060aa2866c3b4ef2c2feb00108519/tenor.gif?itemid=8546899

Kyleran · February 1

Apparently Camelot Unchained is not dead yet, it's just mostly dead as a community manager recently posted on the CU forums that an announcement was likely in 90 days.

Check out the full story over on MOP for a mild laugh.

" nevertheless, an Unchained Entertainment developer did respond.

“I’ve forwarded this message to [Mark Jacobs] and you can expect to see a response within the next 90 days,” Camelot Unchained community manager Travis Parsley replied."

https://massivelyop.com/2025/01/31/following-painful-layoffs-camelot-unchained-is-apparently-still-planning-to-resurface-in-q1-2025/

ValdemarJ · February 1

Kyleran said:

Apparently Camelot Unchained is not dead yet, it's just mostly dead as a community manager recently posted on the CU forums that an announcement was likely in 90 days.

Check out the full story over on MOP for a mild laugh.

" nevertheless, an Unchained Entertainment developer did respond.
“I’ve forwarded this message to [Mark Jacobs] and you can expect to see a response within the next 90 days,” Camelot Unchained community manager Travis Parsley replied."
https://massivelyop.com/2025/01/31/following-painful-layoffs-camelot-unchained-is-apparently-still-planning-to-resurface-in-q1-2025/

Image: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b37255_433ebeeeb9c648a7ac17bfe5cb55a04a~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_854%2Ch_460%2Cal_c/file.png

"You can expect to see a response in the next 90 days...." LMFAO! This statement embodies the dumpster fire of mismanagement and incompetence that is Unchained.

harken33 · February 3

Kyleran said:

Apparently Camelot Unchained is not dead yet, it's just mostly dead as a community manager recently posted on the CU forums that an announcement was likely in 90 days.

Check out the full story over on MOP for a mild laugh.

" nevertheless, an Unchained Entertainment developer did respond.
“I’ve forwarded this message to [Mark Jacobs] and you can expect to see a response within the next 90 days,” Camelot Unchained community manager Travis Parsley replied."
https://massivelyop.com/2025/01/31/following-painful-layoffs-camelot-unchained-is-apparently-still-planning-to-resurface-in-q1-2025/

Wow 90 days to respond to a forum post message?

This may actually be a deadline they can meet!

Unless he decides to make a different 2nd forum post but don't worry that will actually not delay and fully support the first form posts creation.

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Report: Camelot Unchained Developer Unchained Entertainment Cuts Nearly Half Its Workforce | MMORPG.

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Report: Camelot Unchained Developer Unchained Entertainment Cuts Nearly Half Its Workforce | MMORPG.

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV