Troika Games Reduces Staff, To Make Announcement

A number of independent sources have indicated that Troika Games, developer of notable PC RPG titles including Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and Arcanum, has reduced its personnel to a bare minimum, and may now close permanently. Indicators include a messageboard thread apparently offering Troika's office goods and supplies in a liquidation sale. Early responses to the post were skeptical, and the veracity of the sale has not been officially confirmed; however, during the discussion of how legitimate the post was, a Troika employee did post to note that the company had been operating with a vastly reduced staff since two rounds of layoffs in late 2004. The poster, revealed to likely be lead Vampire programmer Andrew Meggs, provided a list of companies at which ex-Troika employees had already found new employment since the developer's contract with Activision for the Source Engine-powered Vampire concluded in November. Leonard Boyarsky, Troika's co-founder and CEO, would not comment directly on the increasing volume of the rumors, telling GameSpot that Troika would make an official announcement "by the end of February." Hopefully the announcement will bring good news, but since Boyarsky didn't specifically deny the rumors, things may look grim for fans of Troika's games.