I don't like posting rumours, but word on the street suggests that last night's announcement about Fury may be the last you'll hear from Auran in their current incarnation. This follows on from the company releasing a statement just last week, saying everything was fine, following some staff changes and restructuring.

We don't know who this fellow is, but as a former employee of the company, with friends still working there, it sounds like it could almost be legit.

Just spoke to some ex-colleagues of mine from Auran. Auran Developments (who hires the dev team) has just gone into liquidation and has shut up shop. The guys don't get paid this week, they don't get their holidays paid out, and they don't get redundancy packages.

I'm really sorry to hear this, and my thoughts go out to all the guys, particularly so close to Christmas.

As we hear anything, we'll keep you posted.


EDIT, 17:05 Adelaide time:
Still no official statement from the company, but employees have been quoted as claiming the rumours "are true" and that the long-time Australian developer closed its doors forever at 3pm this afternoon. Allegedly, the arm of the company, which hires all the developers - Auran Developments - is in receivership, seeing all employees either sacked or soon-to-be sacked, with a small handful re-hired to continue their work on Fury updates.


EDIT, 17:23 Adelaide time:
Looks like the part about no redundancy is just a rumour, with reports popping up that former employees should see some reimbursement, but i's not likely for another few months.

It's worth noting - if you're a recent graduate in Brisbane looking for work in the games industry, good luck. Not only has one of the major employers just packed up, but the market will now be flooded by qualified staff who've been in the industry for a while and have job experience.

Also worth noting that the publishing arm of the company still exists, as does upper management, so it's very possible that in the future we will see a new development element to "Auran" - but for now that doesn't change the mass layoffs a fortnight before Christmas.


EDIT, 17:45 Adelaide time:
There's still no official statement, but the community manager of Trainz has posted this on their forums:

Hi everyone,

This afternoon Auran Developments, the developer of Fury was placed into voluntary administration (Chapter 11). This involved all the employees being dismissed.

However, the future of Trainz is still looking good. Trainz is owned by Auran Games and the directors are committed to continuing the projects currently under development and ensuring that Trainz remains as the number one rail simulator in the world. This involves a number of the Trainz team being re-employed by Auran Holdings, the parent company.

The current Trainz team are working with management to ensure that customers are not impacted by this transition. We wish to advise the community that Trainz, the Download Station and this community will continue as normal. We would also like to confirm that Trainz Classics 3 and other exciting projects to be announced soon will be delivered in the New Year as planned.

Cheers,

Lance Jago
Community Relations Manager, Trainz