Jagex announces layoffs as it pauses Old School RuneScape's community server project
RuneScape developer Jagex has announced that it will pause development on Project Zanaris, which would bring community servers to Old School RuneScape. It has also confirmed that layoffs have affected the company following rumors among fans.
The details:
In a new blog post, Jagex confirmed that it has decided to pause work on Zanaris indefinitely, stating that "feelings around the project were mixed" and that there are "other areas of the core Old School experience that deserve more attention right now."
The developer explained that, while development has been put on hold, some of the technology intended for its original community server plans will be used for Old School in the future. This includes additional content and events planned for Zanaris, improved customization, better server infrastructure, and additional staff to work on updates outlined in the current roadmap.
However, fans have noticed that several well-known employee aliases have been missing from recent developer updates, leading to speculation that layoffs have occurred at the company. These included Mod Jack and Mod Timbo, who were employees of Jagex for 15 and 17 years, respectively, and worked as game designers for RuneScape 3.
In a Reddit comment, moderator JagexHooli confirmed the rumors, stating that the cuts are "part of changes in a company restructure as Jagex puts more emphasis on RuneScape games and community growth." Hooli did not disclose who or how many employees were affected, but did state that the "majority" of those affected were from "non-game dev and non-player facing areas," with the exception of some members of the RuneScape development team.
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