Well it finally happened.... :(

[Eric]

Our redundancies were announced today

Should be employed till end of Aug and then redundancy etc afterwards.

But still…. Bugger

[Welly]

Bloody hell man - very sorry to hear this

Nice thing to come back from holiday too eh?

What kind of work will you need to look for?

Welly

[Eric]

Bloody hell man - very sorry to hear this

Nice thing to come back from holiday too eh?

What kind of work will you need to look for?

Welly

Well I'm a games tester (QA) by trade but unfortunatly quite an expensive one.
I'm one of the few career QA testers around, most are graduates or school kids and I've been doing it for 10 years.

There are no other games companies in the South West so only leaves London, Brighton or up north.
For less pay.

Or I get a job in an office and feel suicidal ;)

[mjb]

Ouch. I know what it's like to be made redundant in a part of the country where demand for your skills is like rocking horse sh*t

You could always head up to the north where things are Cheap and go join Rockstar? Actually I know someone up there if you want me to see about getting your cv forwarded (nobody likes paying extortionate agency rates)?

[Welly]

Is it something you can do as a consultant, working from home for various companies? (please excuse my ignorance)

[Eric]

Ouch. I know what it's like to be made redundant in a part of the country where demand for your skills is like rocking horse sh*t

You could always head up to the north where things are Cheap and go join Rockstar? Actually I know someone up there if you want me to see about getting your cv forwarded (nobody likes paying extortionate agency rates)?

That would be great thanks.
I'll get my CV sorted and get it over to you.

Still employed till the 22nd of Aug so can't do anything till then.

But thanks anyway

[Eric]

Is it something you can do as a consultant, working from home for various companies? (please excuse my ignorance)

In theory yes, in reality no - it's not worth their time when they can employ a bunch of 16 years olds to do the job (less professionally of course )

[teamster1975]

I'm really sorry to hear this too Eric
Are Bullfrog still based around the Guildford area? That's one possibility

[Eric]

I'm really sorry to hear this too Eric
Are Bullfrog still based around the Guildford area? That's one possibility

As far as I know Bullfrog are no more.
The studio that did Hellgate London has just shut down this weekend.

As well as 25% of the parent company worldwide.

Flooded market

[STALLED]

Sucks to hear about that - Best of luck trying to find work in the near future! Who knows, it could open up something completely new for you!?!

Question - what does being a games tester involve?

[Eric]

Sucks to hear about that - Best of luck trying to find work in the near future! Who knows, it could open up something completely new for you!?!

Question - what does being a games tester involve?

Testing games to destruction generally.
Last game I worked on I played it everyday for 3 years, including 6 months of unpaid overtime.
We'd get a new build of the game, test it, submit bugs, get a fixed version, check the bugs are fixed, enter any new bugs and so on.

But the job still can be a lot of fun, as well as the boring repetitive bits.

[ianst28]

Still employed till the 22nd of Aug so can't do anything till then.

been lookin at this recently thought i better get gen'd up what with the way the economy is going and everything else
if i remember correctly once you have been chosen to be made redundant your employer has to give you reasonable time off (paid) to search for a new job
anyway clicky here hope this link helps you eric and every thing goes ok

[Eric]

Still employed till the 22nd of Aug so can't do anything till then.

been lookin at this recently thought i better get gen'd up what with the way the economy is going and everything else
if i remember correctly once you have been chosen to be made redundant your employer has to give you reasonable time off (paid) to search for a new job
anyway clicky here hope this link helps you eric and every thing goes ok

Thanks for that.
We've been told that things are cool and the company will be fair about giving us time to find new jobs.
I could have gone home a few hours ago but just milling about with all the other zombies here at the mo.

[steve_earwig]

Sorry to hear that Eric, hope it leads you on to better things. Bluddy hell, end of August and it's half way through July, no pressure or anything, gits.

Computer games tester? Isn't that on a par with bed tester, donut taster etc.? Hmm, maybe they need people to test condoms

[Eric]

Hmm, maybe they need people to test condoms

I'm pretty sure they are tested, someone has to see how they feel.
Doubt it's a paid job though tbh