Wraithyn

Gamers are a weird breed we’ll play something new and fresh for 5 hours and have the best gaming experience ever and then immediately turn around and go back to the same game that’s been giving us high blood pressure for 5 years.

Prove to me you’re an old gamer in one sentence. I’ll drop a like if I’m convinced.

@HayzerSmite What do you mean? We had a rosterpocalypse, it just wasn't for the players.

@BinghamBaller9 Looks slow...

For those of you that aren’t following me on IG…

@Weak3n Do a draft and I'll watch.

This will be big boy shit. Probably allow a certain amount of sign ups, but goal is best players in the game want to compete for the prize

@CraKaLaKinChr1s Respectfully disagree, but I understand why many people have this opinion.

@Wraithyn1 You can't be a ceo and be a good person

Chill out with the threats toward Stew. Guy is a human being with a family. Disagree with the way he runs a business, be upset at the impact it has on others, but leave the violence elsewhere. Use that energy to support the people who need it instead.

@ChaoxideUSA He didn’t physically harm or kill anyone, he was bad at his job.

@Wraithyn1 He fired people with family's He hurt people with family's

@SpoopyHaus 100%, my point was the violence calls need to stop.

@Wraithyn1 We're literally talking about holding management accountable (not the calls for physical violence, but just the general outrage). It his and the board's mismanagement that has put them in this situation time and time again, and its the teams that pay the price.

Mismanagement is the leading process, layoffs are the result. Ultimately he has a responsibility to do those to prevent it from being 100% terminations (with no severance) if the money runs out. By the time layoffs happen at this scale it’s usually how-much, not ‘if.’ Problem is in gaming it’s too easy to blame the market and not the leadership, particularly if you’re a control freak ego lord.

@Wraithyn1 Definitely understand trying to quell the calls for extreme violence, but man... Removing 50% of your workforce isn't just mismanagement. that's a slaughter. I don't think 'greed' even begins to cover it.

@SpoopyHaus I’m not taking away from anyone’s anger or suffering. Greed is a tough word and hard to prove without being in the board room. Mismanagement is easier to see on the outside. Neither are a good reason to call for violence against someone or say things like “Where’s Luigi.”

@Wraithyn1 What about the people and families that are now facing hardships due to his and the board's greed? I understand where you're coming from, but you have to recognize that this sort of systemic issue doesn't just change with a vist from 3 ghosts in the middle of the night.

@kyhron I bring up Epic because they have the most Unreal Engine-savvy engineers in the market. It’s likely that the other large companies don’t have the idle UE5 talent sitting around, but that’s entirely speculation.

@Wraithyn1 Youre on some good ass shit if you think Epic would do anything positive for Smite

Honestly this is more on Erez and the board than anything. The board, in short, approves the budget, strategy, and can fire the CEO. Keeping an underperforming executive around for that long is a bad look, and they failed in their responsibility to their shareholders in that regard. I cannot think of a single company that mismanages their capital, tanks their culture, pisses off their customers, and still has the same leadership. Even in a world where it's 'not his fault', companies change leadership to shake things up when they're not working. Business is unpredictable and hindsight is 20/20, but there have been systemic problems at that company for a while now that led to these issues. Refusal to pay to attract and retain top talent, antiquated top-down leadership practices (vs. servant leadership/upside-down pyramid) which is the norm these days), half-assing investments that required all-in or not at all (esports), rule through fear, lack of professional development, a culture of "Well you're lucky you're working in gaming at all", and a tendency to always cut the corner. HiRez is and always will be a place that people get their foot in the door to go on to bigger and better things elsewhere unless you're lucky enough to get one of the seats at the leadership table... and then you're still beholden to someone that doesn't have the level of expertise you do and has an opinion as if they do. Ultimately this is the responsibility of the CEO-- even if he was constrained by the board, it's his obligation to advocate for more where needed to do his job effectively. Culture eats strategy for breakfast, and he fostered a terrible one. Thankfully(ish) this latest move is not an uncommon one-- they're likely eliminating as much payroll as they can while Smite 2 is still going strong(ish) so they can prop up the financials and sell the IP off. The only bitch of it is that Stew will get paid out for it in the sale with all the equity he's amassed over the years, and everyone else loses their jobs. Truly hope Epic buys out the IP. The game would be way better off with more investment dollars, resources, and better leadership. Back into my cave!

So ridiculous how much I've genuinely been enjoying Smite 2, nothing but positives all around, playercount, player feedback, instant fixes and support from the devs, super hype roadmap forward. Then this shit like what the fuck?

I'm sorry to hear about the continued layoffs at Hirez. So many great people have been affected. I hope that each and every one of you that were affected will find a new home. I'm sad that some of us were not listened to a few years ago...

Alright— one more Tweet for 2025. This is incredible and a testament to the hard work, sweat, and tears of the Smite 2 team. We’ll see how it pans out over the next few months but a steadily growing base means people are playing and staying. Might need to play…

Using my once-a-year Tweet: AI Refs in the NFL can’t come soon enough. Egregious.

Yikes. Thoughts go out to all my HiRez friends that might be impacted. If I can help in any way, please reach out— resume reviews, career advice, transitions to new industries. Amazing to me that there’s one person that has kept their job through all of this. 🙄

@StevenCooperr Let me know when you want me to present.

What would you like to see from SMITE 2 Esports?

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