Here’s some more info from the inner workings of WK. I’ve known this for a bit but I promised the person who told me that I would hold on to it until at least the 15th. Why the 15th? As some of you may remember, it’s layoff day at WK.

As far as I know this information is accurate. I was told the below by a (now?) former WK employee and parts have been confirmed by other sources. But since it isn’t first-hand knowledge on my part I figured it was best placed in the “Rumor Mill” forum. It may be the last look at what goes on inside of WK as any contacts I might have had are now gone.



First, some old news but with some confirmation…

• Seth was let go, he didn’t leave of his own accord. When he was told he was going to be let go he chose his date rather than wait around until Aug. 15.
• Kelly Bonilla was given the helm of HC design. She’s a former MW lead designer and she did some Pirates too.
• Kelly has worked extensively on Hammer of Thor. In fact, the entire set was/is pretty much done by her.
• Kelly’s last day is today (August 15th) as she was also let go.
• There are two rounds of layoffs… August 15th and October 15th.

Now some new info…

• Anyone who may be left over now (after the Aug 15 date) is pretty much out the door on Oct 15. WK has cut something like 95% (guesstimate) of the staff.
• Pretty much the only people left are Jake Theis (HC Brand Manager), Wade and Rollie (Assistant Brand Managers), Justin Ziran (director of brand management), a few admin (such as financial and HR) people, and one other (who I’ll get to in a moment). Pretty much everyone else is gone. [Speculation – based on the Joe Huack article I saw early this month, I would expect the admin functions to be moved to Topps HQ in NY]
• Tiffany O’Brian was let go as well. As some of you know, she’s the Brand Manager for Pirates and Star Wars. [Speculation – both myself and the person I was talking to think that Pirates and Star Wars will be discontinued after whatever releases they have currently in the pipe.]
• All of the Consumer Experience Department is gone.
• All of the Editors are gone.
• All of the Marketing Department is gone.
• Some of those functions may go back to Topps corporate but there are no longer jobs in WK for them.
• Pretty much all of the Art Department is gone. Sculpting is being outsourced to China (we’re already seeing the effects in the SI set of that). Ben Misenar and Brian Dugas work will show up in Arkham and Hammer, but after that it’ll be Chinese sculpting shops. Ben and Brian will do some contract work only, but they are no longer on the WK payroll.
• The lease for the WK office is up in October (it’ll be interesting to see what happens there).

And now the 64 thousand dollar question… with Seth (and then Kelly) gone everyone wants to know who the new HC game designer will be? Well, it’s none other than Eric Engelhard (Caliban17), the current Consumer Experience Rep.

Before I say anything more, a bit of full disclosure… Engelhard is the guy that perma-banned me from the WK forums for “attempting to start an illegal mail campaign” when I posted that people should take their WF brick coupons that were getting returned and send them back to the WK offices to show that we were unhappy with the way it was handled.

I don’t really care about the banning (the WK forum is a joke anyway), but IMO the reasoning itself speaks volumes about the man. He was the person responsible for the CoG and Crisis events and all the screw-ups that went along with them (scheduling, mis-shipped prize support, lack of info, etc). The persons that I got this information from did not have kind things to say about him either (moron and brown-noser were the kinder terms used). A good many of the ex and current (at least until the 15th) employees were “horrified” to hear the news that he was taking over HC design (“horrified” was the exact word used). The kicker is that while he evidently reads a few comics, he barely knows HeroClix and he has no game design experience coming into this :disappoin


The more I think about it, the more I realize that WK is an odd company. When faced with financial pressures, most companies refocus on their core products in an effort not to lose customers at the very least. If cuts are necessary, it’s middle management that usually takes the hit and not the guys in the trenches who are turning out product for you. But WK works in completely the opposite fashion. They farm out sculpting so the visual quality suffers. They sack the guys doing the work and turn it over to unqualified individuals to pick up the pieces and carry the future of your money makers. And somehow, through all of this, middle management remains.


Now, I realize I come off as a complainer here on these forums but I’ve never been a “THE END IS NEAR!” kind of guy. But I gotta say that it sure seems like Hammer of Thor might be the start of WizKids’ Ragnarok. We get one set designed by Kelly only to have the game handed over to a n00b after that. And IF Pirates and Star Wars are truly zombie game lines then that makes WK a one trick pony. WK appears to be in some pretty dire straights right now. Guess we wait and see what happens, but…

Woah. That's some dire news right there. I hope it ain't so.

Hokey Smokes! 95% staff lay-off sounds to me like Topps is cutting its losses and running for the hills! There goes your short-term investment in the main brand of the WK line. I will wait to see and hope for the best, but this is seriously disturbing news.

Bummer.

.... :-x Damn!

So the sky pretty much IS falling this time? Good to know. Guess I'll give the new guy one set and if it tanks as bad as it sounds it will? Eh. Money in my pocket I suppose.

Errghh...you were right. I'd definitely didn't need to keep thinking about it.

Englehard....ugh...say it ain't so.

If all this is true then really Clix's days are numbered, as is this websites!
The million dollar question is:
Why when they're reporting record earnings would they feel the need to do this?

Gentlmen its been an honor playing with you....(pulls out violin and starts playing)

WK is a privately held company now... they don't report earnings to the public.

HCR will go on without new Heroclix product. I have that much faith. Collectively, we all have enough clix to keep playing for generations and for still being able to talk about the game that we love. WK's downfall, if and when it happens, won't bring down HCR.

Wow, if this correct (and Hair's last Spoiler from inside WK offices was) this is far more troubling than just Seth leaving, this is huge, end of the game, type of stuff.

Somebody hold me, I'm scared!

Isn't there a way we can send the message to WK that Engelhard is the wrong person for the job? let's start bombarding them, can we?

I'd rather be an optimist, but I've invested sooo much in the game, that I wouldn't mind if I stop buying pieces. If Hammer of Thor is the last good set, then I think it's a good cut-off point for me [this coming from a guy who bought IC the week it came out].

But all the dire news sounds bad. I'm not sure if it'll get better, but I guess I'll wait and see.

I don't think HCR will die either. I think people will still play. But interest for the game will drop drastically. Maybe then I can pick up those pesky zombie chases for cheap.

Damn thats pretty bad. I'm not one to be pessimistic, but that pretty bad. I hope these little Chinese kids can sculpt good for 5 cents a day . I thought this game was doing well. Why all the down sizing???




I hope not and I hope I can get Zombie Hulk for $5 on ebay.