Another dev leaves Respawn, more specifically Apex Legends. Jason McCord, the Design Director at Respawn has said his goodbye on twitter. It seems that he’s leaving in good terms.Devs come and go in different projects/games but having the design director will definitely shake things up in the game. - Is the recent wave of multiple developers leaving Respawn the reason why the game feels lacking content wise?- Are you hopeful with the future of the game now that there are new people taking over these positions or are you worried for the future of the game?

Wow, big names leaving... I'm not worried though. Happens all the time in the game industry. Very few like to stick to one place and that only if they can climb the ladder as well. I don't think Jason and Chad were that well known before Apex, if they managed to step up to the task and deliver Apex, others can do it too. It's wrong to assume that game devs stick forever to companies that pays well. Big salaries come with a lot of freedoms and opportunities, like taking months to years off work to recharge, starting personal businesses, hopping from company to company without worrying about tomorrow, in the pursuit of new & exciting experiences.Last but not least, people leaving in good terms can always come back. It's known that Respawn is one of the best companies to work for, so it is possible for some of those who left to feel like coming back after a while, after recharging, succeeding or failing to find a different or better experience.

@Cheese9Man People move jobs and companies all the time. I don't think it is anything to worry about.

@ZeelmaekersYes my buddy who works in the same field also switches companies like every other year. But is it kinda worrisome that most of the core team members of the Apex team left in a short span of time of around less than half a year?Having said that, new people in these positions will have fresh new ideas for the game. Apex definitely needs fresh new ideas for content. I still go back to JayBiebs replacing DZK as the head of game balance and now the legends and weapons balances are better than ever.

@hayhor What he means is that people dont leave jobs without any reason and when many people leave in a short amount of time, something in the background might be wrong

Definitely!You can also look at the bright side, new people = new ideas, different viewpoints.I think it's positive that they switch jobs and explore other companies/jobs.Of course, the switch can sometimes have a worse effect, but as long the person in question is leaving saying he has an amazing time, I'm not worried that the game will be affected in the future.I don't think there is something going on in the back like Blizzard/Activision atm, they just fired part of their QA team.

Lead developers leave Apex | EA Forums

18 Replies

hayhor
Hero
4 years ago
@Cheese9Man People move jobs and companies all the time. I don't think it is anything to worry about.
EREGDS
4 years ago
@hayhor wrong, people leave jobs only if:

a) they messed up and don't want to clean it (might be Apex case) or they are just fired for it

b) people realize that they can't "act like working" no more and employer finally demands results

c) someone pays more for the same amount of work

d) current employer is just a D#$#, values do not match between the person and the company, company shifts from startup mentality to corporate efficiency mode aka milk the cow atmosphere

But I mean that it can't get much worse :D hope he was responsible for anti-cheat development :D
Cheese9Man
4 years ago
Forgot to mention that the game director of Apex, Chad Grenier left as well. Here’s his message to the community https://bit.ly/3IiMCS8
hayhor
Hero
4 years ago
@EREGDS So I'm wrong for saying people leave jobs but then you give reasons why? You've lost me.
RevMainPls
4 years ago
@hayhor What he means is that people dont leave jobs without any reason and when many people leave in a short amount of time, something in the background might be wrong
Zeelmaekers
Hero+
4 years ago
@EREGDS wrote:
@hayhor wrong, people leave jobs only if:

a) they messed up and don't want to clean it (might be Apex case) or they are just fired for it

b) people realize that they can't "act like working" no more and employer finally demands results

c) someone pays more for the same amount of work

d) current employer is just a D#$#, values do not match between the person and the company, company shifts from startup mentality to corporate efficiency mode aka milk the cow atmosphere

But I mean that it can't get much worse :D hope he was responsible for anti-cheat development :D

Kinda wrong, IT / Game development has one of the highest turnover rate.
Changing jobs is just now more frequent and doesn't always has a good reason.
hayhor
Hero
4 years ago
@RevMainPls Well yeah there is a reason for everything but that doesn't change the fact people leave jobs. I work in automotive. I have customers that change jobs all the time. Some are chasing money, some are leaving bad employers or bosses and some just want a change period. Lots of people leave after another person leaves because those people start to think about it.

Maybe the people leaving are tired of working on the same game for 5 years and want to try something else. No one knows.
Cheese9Man
4 years ago
@ZeelmaekersYes my buddy who works in the same field also switches companies like every other year. But is it kinda worrisome that most of the core team members of the Apex team left in a short span of time of around less than half a year?
Having said that, new people in these positions will have fresh new ideas for the game. Apex definitely needs fresh new ideas for content. I still go back to JayBiebs replacing DZK as the head of game balance and now the legends and weapons balances are better than ever.
Zeelmaekers
Hero+
4 years ago
Definitely!
You can also look at the bright side, new people = new ideas, different viewpoints.
I think it's positive that they switch jobs and explore other companies/jobs.

Of course, the switch can sometimes have a worse effect, but as long the person in question is leaving saying he has an amazing time, I'm not worried that the game will be affected in the future.

I don't think there is something going on in the back like Blizzard/Activision atm, they just fired part of their QA team.
soccerking122
4 years ago
@EREGDSsometimes people might also change jobs just to experience a new environment.