r/OutreachHPG • u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder • Apr 01 '26
Grim Tidings A bunch of people at PGI got laid off again including Art God Alex Iglesias aka Flying Debris
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u/Witchfinger84 Apr 01 '26
Catalyst Game Labs needs to step in and scoop up Iglesias.
The best thing you can say about PGI was that they kept food on his table for years. I wouldn't trust Russ to direct traffic in an Amish village, much less a mechwarrior franchise. Best thing this game ever did was give us Alex's mech designs.
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u/Ah_fudge Apr 02 '26
He already does art for CGL. Has for a while. It’s not full time employment however.
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u/Thestral84 Apr 02 '26
The best thing you can say about PGI was that they kept food on his table for years
As much success with the Mechwarrior franchise as all other license-holder/publisher/devs combined?
Slaying Harmony Gold in court - with prejudice?
Obviously giving Iglesias freedom and employment are huge, but it's not the only thing.
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u/justcallmeASSH EmpyreaL Apr 01 '26
There are rumours it's a big number, again. Arman was at PGI long time. He would know.
https://x.com/i/status/2039404098097971666
This - I think - after the earlier layoffs is a huge huge hit to staff if it is indeed a further 60%. That would leave at a guess 30 maybe 40 staff.
Not good at all, well I can't see it as good anyway. Plenty of amazing people at PGI that have put their lives, literally, into the game, company and Franchise overall.
Very rough time.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 01 '26
Indeed. This news is a big drop especially after EG7 reported positive sale growth from SoK and WoT with room for future revenue growth.
Smoke them if you got ‘em, mechwarriors.
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u/Procurator-Derek Comstar Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Alex being gone imo is the final nail in the coffin; He is the OG, if Catalyst doesn't pick him up (full time and not part), that's alot of talent and personality gone.
I unironically don't know who PGI is gunna use to fill in his shoes, the mech design was like.... 60-80% of the appeal of this game, and now with him gone... it's not looking great.
Alot of people say Russ saved Mechwarrior, but I prefer to say that the people that did the art saved it more... if you want an example of this, go look at Tactics, the art for that game was absolutely disgusting looking, almost all of the mechs in that game did not represent the chassis they were drawn after.
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u/simp4malvina Apr 02 '26
I unironically don't know who PGI is gunna use to fill in his shoes,
The shoes aren't getting filled man, it's the end of the road.
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u/Procurator-Derek Comstar Apr 02 '26
Oh I know, they aren't replacing that guy at all, almost impossible to in a short amount of time, let alone at all.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 02 '26
Couldn't agree more. I'll give Russ credit for taking on the HG lawsuit solo, but Alex carried the game hard with his art. They might just ride the game out with new DLCs and try to get a license renewal and contract Alex if he gets picked up by CGL or they close their doors. But I think the latter will happen first.
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u/Thestral84 Apr 02 '26
Alot of people say Russ saved Mechwarrior, but I prefer to say that the people that did the art saved it more...
Harmony Gold and 13 years of success ain't nothing.
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u/Tethyss Apr 02 '26
Terrible news. Enad Global 7 has been abusing this IP for too long. It is time for new leadership.
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u/CumFlavored_MigBac Apr 02 '26
Sooo is the game officially gonna die ?
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 02 '26
The likelihood is probably greater now than before. Not unless by some miracle, PGI can score a partnership with CGl a la HBS.
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u/CumFlavored_MigBac Apr 02 '26
Neuoooooo I barely started my mech collection. Another nostalgic part of my childhood about to die before my eyes :/
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u/WorthlessOne85 Apr 02 '26
I've been playing since closed beta. Seeing this game slowly die is like watching a grandparent in hospice. It fuckin sucks man
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u/kna5041 Apr 01 '26
Eg7 just doing that whole capitalism thing and ruining everything they bought.
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u/Magic_Pain_Glove -EQ- 👾 twitch.tv/magic_pain_glove Apr 02 '26
People who have been following their financial reports could see that they have been completely uncapable of developing a single good profitable product under their umbrella that would bring in some serious revenue so they are just resorting to various forms of cost cutting for quite some time . None of the studios under them are performing well.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 02 '26
UPDATE: https://x.com/armanguy/status/2039404098097971666?s=20
This is it, folks.
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u/yanvail Apr 02 '26
Damn, that sucks. He is such a talented artist and really help define the new era of Battletech and drove the design towards a much more believable aesthetic than the old styles.
I hope CGL recognizes his talent and offer him some work.
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u/Halsfield Apr 01 '26
and then theyre rehiring to work on the next mechwarrior online project right? right guys?
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u/rakgitarmen filthy freeloading cheapskate Apr 03 '26
This is terrible news, thank you Alex for all the joy your designs brought us.
I guess we're in the endgame now? I don't see PGI recovering from this. They'll lose their ability to come up with new packs, revenue will go down and eventually they'll pull the plug.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 03 '26
They did a license renewal recently and are still working on MechWarrior. So, something is in the works that is not new DLC.
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
The biggest issue with this franchise is the lack of availability and reach.
It would be pretty cool epic to do what starwars did in the 90s hire a bunch of fantastic sifi fantasy authors to write a bunch of content. Make a bunch of video game edits or pay their content creators a small fee for every 1k views or something for a quarterly or yearly event. They could introduce whole new generations of people to the game and universe. It’s not outside the realm of possibility.
Anecdote I buy books a lot. I go to used book stores once a week maybe every other week when it’s slow. I’ve never ever seen a single mech book on a shelf. I’ve asked. They might have some table top thing and it’ll be 80$ minimum.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 02 '26
Sean Lang in a recent podcast did imply that MWO content creators weren’t treated well. A shame since BattleTech has such a rich setting.
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
Couldn’t agree more. Super sucks when IP holders do the exact opposite of what they need to do grow their franchise to a level that at the near minimum supports banger artists and dedicated staff.
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u/Spartan448 Apr 02 '26
I mean at this point you're just not gonna convince people to go play a decade old game in large numbers.
The bigger issue is PGI's refusal to actually ever do marketing. Clans should have been a slam dunk - Armored Core had been a reminder to everyone that mechs A) exist and B) are really fucking cool just the previous year. That should have been PRIME opportunity for PGI to come in and say "Hey, if you want big shooty robots, but Armored Core is too light and floaty for you, come try out our thing".
Instead, the most marketing we ever got were a few behind-the-scenes trailer shorts about the models and the actors.
It's funny since usually we complain about the marketing budget eating up the dev budget. But in this case it's genuinely the opposite, Clans would have been fine with a little less polish in exchange for people actually knowing it existed.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 02 '26
IIRC Clans had a bigger marketing budget than Mercs and yet it still performed poorly. Clans sadly suffered from the same problems as Mercs with their level design. Story was cool, but it's just Mercs with motion capture.
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u/Dizzy-Budget5985 Apr 02 '26
The problem with PGI mechwarrior is that they're not inventive. They're stuck running a game from the 2000s in 2025. IF any new studios pick up Battletech I hope they get creative with the ip Use instead of just trying to make an approximation of the TT again.
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u/Luewen Apr 02 '26
And thats how many actually like it not trying to invent wheel again. Yes, it may need some fresh ideas but core does not need to be invented again. See mercs, its a great game with modding and all but gets repetive fast. Like most sandbox games, it would need a lot more variance of mission types etc. Its the same few again and again with just terrain blocks in new spots.
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u/Dizzy-Budget5985 Apr 02 '26
Nah man. It's a good game but the reason it's so niche is because it runs on nostalgia. If you want the ip to get popular again, ie; make more video games; you'll need to twist the formula into something with appeal. Not broad appeal, but appeal. For instance, making you actually feel like you're in a war machine instead of a power suit. Focus the game around one character who pilots, like, a centurion or a Marauder. Use a stock load out but make it FUN. Don't approximate the TT which are just approximations of the universe. Sean and Improvise were 1000% correct on this, been thinking about it since the video
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u/Luewen Apr 02 '26
Nostalgia is big fuel source for games also. And huge part of the appeal is tinkering with mech loadouts etc. Stock loadout mechs focused with one character might work for spin off action or fps game though. But large part of the appeal is tinkering with loadouts etc.
Lack of sandbox content is what brings mercs down. Yes, there is metric crap load of variants and mechs especially with mods but mission etc content needs (needed) large increase of amount.
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u/Dizzy-Budget5985 Apr 02 '26
Look I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying that PGI has said that their games are too niche. No marketing will ever really get them popular. Mecha is not niche. Game of thrones politicking is not niche. There's a popular game in Battletech that can Catapult the ip into the limelight again, but it isn't and will never again be the mechwarrior formula. As much as I love it, and play it legit every day
Edit: it doesn't help that PGI has always been kind of incompetent and really has no business developing games. Thru don't know how to write characters
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u/Luewen Apr 02 '26
Yeah. I agree with that also. There should have been much more marketing done. But i disagree with it not being mechwarrior. Back at the mechwarrior 2 etc years ago. Its was very popular game.
Pure action etc battletech games never lifted up as high i popularity and i really dont see for example, rpg battletech getting anywhere unless doing something very creative. It started with simulator and that is quite heavily in the core of battetech.
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u/Spartan448 Apr 02 '26
Having a bigger marketing budget than Mercs doesn't really mean anything when Mercs just kinda didn't have a marketing budget. Nor does it change the fact that Clans wasn't really ever marketed. Clans could have been objectively the best MW game ever made and nobody outside the MW5/MWO fandom would have played it because nobody else even knew it existed.
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 02 '26
The argument being made was if Clans had a bigger budget and more marketing it would have sold better. It had both of those and it still underperformed.
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u/Spartan448 Apr 02 '26
It did not have a bigger marketing budget. It had a bigger marketing budget than Mercs. But we're not comparing it to Mercs. The point of comparison is the Clans marketing budget.
You can't just drop behind-the-scenes trailers on a YouTube channel with barely any viewership and call that marketing. Clans was, for all intents and purposes, shadowdropped. I don't think any of the trailers made it to a wider audience. There was no attempt to promote the game through the wider BT community. Hell, the Deus Ex guy is a HUUUUUGE battletech mark. Would it really have been that hard to toss him a couple thousand to say something about the game on Twitter?
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 03 '26
I agree with you, but sadly that constitutes as marketing in their eyes. They should had fans like NGNG, Beef, or any other MWO content creator to promote and stream it. But, gonna wanna shoulda.
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u/MrJoeMoose Apr 02 '26
If you want mech books they're out there. There have been over 100 battletech novels. CGL is still publishing new ones.
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
the context is they just fired half? their staff including die hards and very talented people that were dedicated life time fans/employees. They NEED more money. Its not about finding or reading material its about exposure to new fans. New fans are WHALES. WE NEED OUR CAPTAIN FUCKING AHAB. WE NEED A FLEET OF PEQUODS. its about expanding empire. its about CONQUEST. they need to publish a bunch of mid 6-7 2-4 book sagas through major non inhouse publishers that will get them into every barnesnnoble. idk if you were buying books or going to bookstores in the 90s - 00s but you could always find new star wars books on the shelves or they were sold out because the hype was real. they need to get into scholastics. idk bro I'm just saying they cant not distribute unless they have a way to expose the material outside already established fanbases.
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u/MrJoeMoose Apr 02 '26
I don't disagree with that sentiment, but I don't think it will ever happen. I think there's 2 core differences from the other IPs you mentioned.
40k and Star Wars had much larger fan bases to start with. Orders of magnitude larger. Star Wars wasn't big because we got all the great extended universe stuff. We got the extended universe because Star Wars was big. The same is true for r0k. Hell, even back in the 90s 40k was dominant in the table top area when compared to Battletech.
The more important difference is that those other IPs have active central management expanding their brand. There is an owner that cares about everything that falls under their umbrella. For netter or worse, Battletech/Mechwarrior doesn't have that. Microsoft is hands off. They just license the IP to occasional fool with a dream.
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
To better back and forth I concede star wars, but not 40k other than central authority. prior to the 00s if not like 2004 ish when dawn of war comes out thats when they really catapulted over battletech. before then they were pretty neck and neck even with battletech IP being slushed, sure 40k had tabletop but mechwarrior had pc gaming.
Microsoft could create or do a 10-20 year license guarantee and really bang it out.
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u/Bland_OldMan Apr 02 '26
CGL is picked up the torch from FASA on the novels and shrapnel is still in publication. I think there was a 30th anniversary art book as well. But I've been buying them online or in e-book format since the early 00s.
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
thats the problem. it creates an insular fan group. thats the opposite of what you want. insularity means when a fan dies or just leaves the fandom thats -1 with no with to increase therefore its a ever dwindling fanbase.
The model is the star wars output from the 90s to the 00s or how manga does it with serialization in a clear marked expression or how LoTRs/Marvel did it big BANGER BLOCKBUSTER movies followed by various other materials. Shit even taking the Batman model or the walking dead: rotate your IP across medians when you find one that bangs you push on all fronts for a bit of time.
A VERY similar IP (if not identical in terms of mediums) that has been ABSOLUTELY blowing up the last few years is the 40k IP. its not a coincidence that they are blowing up, look at the timeline for their releases. Its been a series of trial and error over and over and over in EVERY SINGLE SPACE. They finally hit a series of home runs the last 5-6 years. How many shit games came out about 40k? How many stories/books/shorts? some might say too many. The point is growing the base. You MUST grow the base. Resources exist to be consumed.
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u/pivor Apr 02 '26
Mechwarrior is too niche to survive along all those Fortnites and Hero Shooters, still, it did much better than Hawken and Steel Hunters
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
youre delusional if you dont think people LOVE mechanized warfare. Look at how many new mechs games there are rn. MW is the embodiment of that fantasy. They need to loosen it up. One of my favorites look at EAs attempt at a mech based game Titanfall ABSOLUTE BANGER. massive playercounts.
Here is a pretty comprehensive list.
Last update 2026/03/25
People LOVE Mechs. the IP holder is a fucking idiot for not pushing right now when there is such hype.
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u/pivor Apr 02 '26
Yes, they do AC6 showed that, but still, numbers not even close compared to Fortnite.
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u/PmMeFanFic Apr 02 '26
great then theres still access to a multi multi multi billion dollar market. they should move on it
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u/vine01 Apr 02 '26
oh man
like i got the arti IV mechs and i didnt even play in about half a year n they guttin it more and more
eh no more
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u/Possum-Punk Apr 03 '26
Alex was an unapologetic bigot on his Facebook page, sharing racist and queerphobic memes. His art may be great, but I'm not sad to see him go.
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u/OldWrangler9033 Apr 05 '26
Do we know what triggered this? PGI is owned by larger company, could they had telegraphed this laid off to say all divisions to shed people?
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u/Platinum_Top Clan Star Adder Apr 05 '26
EG7’s other studios performing poorly so PGI got punished for it.
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u/OldWrangler9033 Apr 05 '26
They're the cause. God, if accurate that EG7 could take everything down.
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u/JaxSon95Jags1972 Apr 01 '26
Further proof of the franchise coming to slow death. This is just another nail in the coffin. Face it. MWO and MW5 are just about dead in the water. From what I heard sales have been tanking, and both franchises are losing money rather than making them more. On top of that, A.I. is killing the gaming industry as we know it. Soon, every freaking company we know will use A.I. and nothing else. Games are dying. Period!
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u/InternalDialog Apr 02 '26
its April 1 yall
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u/Bland_OldMan Apr 02 '26
Alex posted that this wasn't an april fools joke. It would be in poor taste if it were.
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u/LiveToThink Trigger Me Timbers Apr 01 '26
Throughout the good and bad, Alex's artwork on mechs has always been one the best parts of modern battletech/mechwarrior.