As I’m sure most of you have already heard, KingsIsle had to unfortunately release many employees yesterday. Here is the official statement from KingsIsle:

“To verify, many talented employees were released as part of a reduction in force today at KingsIsle Entertainment, and we wish them the best. This coincides with a couple of unreleased mobile games being cancelled. The strategy is to refocus our efforts on our MMO games and polish our more promising mobile projects, many of which are still slated for a 2016 release. Fans of our MMOs should know that Pirate101 is soon to receive an update and will be going to Test Realm most likely next week. Wizard101 has new content updates in the works for both Summer and Fall 2016.”

I was deeply saddened by this news as soon as I heard about it. Having met many KingsIsle employees, they truly feel like real friends to me.

To everyone at KingsIsle who unfortunately was caught in the layoffs yesterday – Thank you for all that you’ve done. The games would not be where they are today without your dedication and hard work. You are all talented individuals and I wish each and every one of you the very best in the future.

Among those who are no longer with KingsIsle are Leala (Professor Greyrose, Community Manager) and #JuliaFromKI (Social Media Coordinator). This community will definitely not be the same without them. If either of you are reading this, thank you tremendously for everything. It is because of you that we have great community innovations like KI Live, Pillow Fight events, and fishing events. It also was a pleasure being able to meet both of you and I hope our paths cross again! Here’s the SXSW picture for the memories … :)

With that said, this is a time for positivity if there ever was one. The community needs to unite and have faith. Things will definitely be different, yes – but a community’s overall attitude can help guide a ship or help sink it. Continue to support the games, and the rest will hopefully fall into place. We have a long-awaited Pirate101 storyline update coming up and I’m super excited about it!

With summer in full swing now, I can’t wait to have more gaming time and blog about my many adventures and thoughts. Thank you to all my readers who have supported me thus far. You mean a lot! I love blogging and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.