A Vancouver video game company, Navigator Games, was recently hit with some layoffs, and one of the laid-off employees is speaking out about how cruel the industry can be.
Jason Albrecht, who was a senior video editor for Navigator Games, recently shared his story in a LinkedIn post and some more information with Daily Hive.
He pulled no punches in his post on LinkedIn when reflecting on his termination.
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“I realize LinkedIn is used for professional virtue signalling & pseudo-inspirational BS, but I’m sorry I have to say this cause I’m having a tough time processing this, and if it burns bridges so be it.”
Albrecht says that on July 17, he received an employment offer from a film studio that would’ve included life-changing pay. On July 18, he gave his boss four weeks’ notice.
“That was deemed unacceptable by my boss, who demanded I get another two weeks from the studio.”
That delay caused the offer to fall through.
“I asked the studio if more time would work, and they withdrew because of their timetable.”
He was offered a raise by Navigator as consolation, but Albrecht believes that the CEO of Navigator knew the company was on shaky ground. If Navigator accepted his resignation, he would’ve been able to leave on August 14.
Soon after, at 1 pm on August 21, he was hit with the news that the Vancouver video game studio was laying him and around 40 other employees off. A week later, he posted to LinkedIn.
“I genuinely am having a hard time processing this. In a week, my professional outlook was devastated by being loyal and diplomatic,” he wrote.
Many people responded to Albrecht’s post, sharing condolences and their own experiences.
“There’s no such thing as ‘loyalty,’ that’s why contracts exist. Companies will always put profits ahead of ‘loyalty’ to specific employees. Employees should always put their own needs first,” one person wrote in response.
Someone else said they’d also worked for Navigator Games and had some negative comments about upper management.
Now, Albrecht is picking up the pieces after losing a potentially life-changing job.
In the meantime, he’s freelancing and working in commercials but is looking for something more stable moving forward, hopefully in the film and TV industry.
One of his recent projects saw him staging a promo for a character in a game based on Iron Maiden’s most recent album.
“I’m largely happy with what I’ve learned in gaming and very happy with the truly amazing artists I’ve worked with.”
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