Following Layoffs, En Masse's Interim CEO States That "TERA And En Masse Aren't Going Anywhere"

TERA is still a popular game, averaging 2500 Steam users playing concurrently at any one time, but, as expected, yesterday's layoffs at En Masse Entertainment have had players worried. To help assuage fears, En Masse Interim CEO Sam Kim held an AMA on Reddit earlier today. In the AMA, in response to where he sees TERA in three or for years, Sam Kim states firmly that "TERA and En Masse aren't going anywhere."

In another response, Kim explains how the developer-publisher relationship between BlueHole and En Masse works. "We have developers on staff, but they’re focus and capabilities lie in service systems, backend integration, and web technology. BlueHole has staff and talent in game development, tech, design, and art," he says. Another important note is as follows.

The extra thing with En Masse and BlueHole is that we’re part of the same company (En Masse is a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueHole). And because of that, we’ve been able to work more closely with BlueHole on a lot of things. We had more access to in-game mechanics than a publisher typically would with games. And while things haven’t been perfect ALL of the time, we’ve seen impact that we wouldn’t have seen in a super-traditional partnership.

Kim also reassures players that "The TERA team at BlueHole are super passionate and super awesome folks, and they absolutely are interested in making a great experience." Furthermore, he states that "En Masse and BlueHole are talking CONSTANTLY about NA TERA" in an attempt to reassure players that BlueHole care about the North American playerbase.

On the topic of the layoffs, Kim explains that "It’s super painful to see our friends and colleagues move on. A big reason was so that we can ensure that TERA’s service lasts for a long long time." In another response, he explains how the remaining workforce is faring in the following quote.

We have 35+ folks left at EME and almost all of them are working on TERA in some fashion. We're definitely lighter in some areas, but I think we're also looking to be more nimble, agile, and communicative. It'll be balancing that against "doing things". We're figure it out now, so no concrete answers yet. BUT I'm super impressed with the team, they're super positive and passionate about getting us there.

The overall sentiment seems to be that the layoffs are not a sign of financial trouble at En Masse. The game will remain online for the foreseeable future and will continue to receive content updates.