Video game maker Nerjyzed Entertainment arrived in Baton Rouge in 2006 with high expectations. At the time, in a second-quarter report, CEO Jacqueline Beauchamp said she had gathered a team that would enable Nerjyzed “to become an innovative video game company designed to raise the bar in this arena.”
The Baton Rouge native cited incentives of $500,000 from the Metro Council and $950,000 from the state for workforce training as alluring reasons to relocate the company from Dallas, where she had led a Motorola multimedia team. Meantime, local officials hoped Nerjyzed—pronounced “energized”—would symbolize the kind of dynamic, knowledge-based economy that would attract young people and diversify business in the region.
Indeed, that same year Yatec video game developer set up shop in town, and Electronic Arts opened its game-testing center at LSU several years later.
As recently as November, Nerjyzed was teetering on the brink. But the first black-owned, black-themed creator of an Xbox 360 console game appears to have weathered funding problems, doubts of investors and employees about management’s ideas, and a highly critical response to the quality of its sole release to date, the Black College Football Xperience for PC or Xbox.
Today, Beauchamp is confident her company is headed in the right direction, with a boost in holiday sales and a new promotion deal with Walmart, and what her startup signifies in the $20 billion U.S. gaming industry. Most critical, however, to her company’s survival is what she hopes is an imminent infusion of venture capital.
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“We sold over 100,000 units” of the latter, she says. “Most companies never get to that. I’m just glad we were able to achieve that. We are moving the organization toward a very, very large growth round right now. There will be a major announcement about that, that would involve not just capitalization but also some strategic partnerships.”
She says out-of-state venture capital firms will syndicate to back Nerjyzed, a deal she hopes will be ready by the end of February. Also, she says a partnership with Walmart planned for Black History Month will reposition BCFX as not just a football game but an educational resource. That involves a tour of Arkansas schools to give a presentation on the link between math, science, writing, art and game development.
She says Nerjyzed is working on three new console products, one in preproduction and two in the concept stage. The interactive, “family entertainment” games include an action-themed game and two music-based ones planned for release during summer and fall. Due out at the same time are mobile and flash-based Internet games that Beauchamp says are in development.
This good news comes on the heels of an array of financial challenges for the company, though it landed in Baton Rouge supposedly with $12 million and that workforce development funding.
“We had some bumps in the road with some things that we had to take on,” Beauchamp says. “Our cash flow challenge that we’ve had last year has been—we have made a tremendous amount of progress on it. We got through it. It was a tough period and a tough moment.
“We literally had to step in to do more on our end on the marketing-publishing side of things in terms of moving the business and the product forward in the retail phase. We didn’t plan for it. But it definitely took more out of us. We’re at such a good point for the company, I’m just pleased.”
Yet several ex-employees of Nerjyzed allege that along the way, basics of the business—including gameplay mechanics and market research—received short shrift as the company first labored to put out a PC version of BCFX in 2007, then a long-delayed console version that has been criticized in online reviews for awkward play and software glitches.
“It’s unfortunate that Black College Football Xperience—The Doug Williams Edition is such a horrendous collection of bad gameplay and features,” says the review on ign.com, which awarded a score of 3.5 out of 10. “Both the alums of these institutions as well as the students would gladly pay for a game that accurately captured the spirit and the excitement of gameday for HBCUs.
“However, this is not the way to approach this demographic, and on top of this, the experience is so poorly done that it would probably infuriate them. Given that this isn’t the first attempt by Nerjyzed to make these games, it seems that capturing the real black college football experience is still far from being accurately presented any time soon.”
Prior to Christmas, BCFX for Xbox sold about 60,000 units after its late September debut, according to vgchartz.com; holiday sales and a big bump in mid-January—thanks to generous publicity from The Mo’Nique Show, which hosted Beauchamp, Nerjyzed Creative Director Brian Jackson and the Clark Atlanta University drumline as guests—pushed the retail figure over the six-figure mark.
Photo by Marie Constantin
“We are moving the organization toward a very, very large growth round right now.”JACQUELINE BEAUCHAMP, CEO, Nerjyzed Entertainment
Some industry experts say that outcome at least puts the game at break-even, although well below Beauchamp’s autumn projection of a half-million units sold. The product retails for about $40.
“Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do,” Beauchamp told Mo’Nique’s audience, saying of her staff, “These guys have done some things that people said would never be.” She says her phone has been ringing off the hook with inquiries for school field trips to check out the inner workings of such a trendy digital media company.
In December at Nerjyzed’s office in the Bon Carré Business Center, Beauchamp confidently said retailers in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia had sold out of BCFX before the holidays and requested more. She noted that the games were published in Texas but distributed by a Minnesota firm.
“We’re happy with where we are,” she said at that time. “Didn’t hit our mark, but still happy with where we are. I mean we go through challenges, don’t get me wrong. You work your behind off to get through them. And we’ve done that.”
Also in December, Beauchamp was featured in a Black Enterprise TV segment, and she relayed that Nerjyzed will be showcased in Essence magazine in April. She says “repositioning” also has led to retailing BCFX games at a Los Angeles museum for a Walmart-sponsored exhibit called “Tavis Smiley Presents America I AM: The African American Imprint.” That partnership emphasizes the nongaming content of BCFX, including a historically black college and university virtual sports museum.
In that way, Beauchamp says, “We may end up getting nearer to the numbers that we originally had planned.” And she says video and audio production her company did for the Bayou Classic in November offers a taste of things to come in terms of diversifying revenue by combining live entertainment and digital media.
Yet also in November, former staffers say they heard from current employees that Nerjyzed stopped paying workers for at least three pay cycles, resulting in a salary gap of six weeks.
“I’m not going to get into that from an operational standpoint,” Beauchamp says. “Startup companies all go through various sorts of issues and challenges. The lending market—and this is with all small businesses—it’s not favorable right now. You can be sitting on millions of dollars’ worth of accounts receivables, and you know, it’s just—it’s tough.”
Regarding the company’s debts and payroll obligations, Nerjyzed spokeswoman Lisa Sorensen says: “Obviously every company goes though financial difficulties. Sometimes it makes headlines, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Current employees who declined to be named in print said in mid-December the company resumed paying them in fits and starts, but the financial hiccup sounded familiar to some alumni.
Former lead game designer Lyle Landry says he doesn’t expect to recoup $1,100 in business trip expenses he incurred while recording audio talent and music for BCFX, charges he put on his own credit card when he says Nerjyzed’s hotel bookings fell through. More disappointing, he says, was when his paycheck came five days late in May 2008, a move that he says management called a way to make the company look more cash-rich to investors at strategic times.
In December 2008, his paychecks failed to clear, putting his finances in the red. “I couldn’t even afford the gas to drive to work anymore,” says Landry, who commuted from Thibodaux. “Every single charge became an NSF [insufficient funds] charge. Every $3 I spent at a gas station cost $3 plus $39.”
Landry had been in restaurant management in late 2006 when a friend who worked for Nerjyzed as an artificial intelligence programmer told him the company needed quality assurance testers. “I’ve played games all my life. I have an enormous, useless amount of football knowledge,” Landry says. “I felt like it was a good fit.”
Soon, he says, he took the initiative to organize the design department and wound up as chief of the group, but he grew disillusioned with the company’s strategy of trying to create an entertainment “experience” with passive music sequences, such as college halftime shows, emphasized as much as gaming itself.
When he tried to prioritize the kind of nuts-and-bolts play that appeals to fans of such hit titles as Madden NFL or NCAA Football, he says he was told: “Our biggest problem is we have the gamer too much in mind. That’s not what we need to do.”
Jackson describes BCFX as four games in one: college football, halftime shows that replicate HBCU band performances, the virtual sports museum and a drumline challenge that uses electronic drum pads plugged into the gaming console.
“We studied hours and hours of halftime shows,” he says, noting that band director Don Roberts, who choreographed sequences in the film Drumline, was hired for the game, which includes more than 60 halftime shows with impressive music performances by Southern University’s band among others.
Jackson, a veteran of EA and Microsoft football games, says he’s heard criticism that BCFX isn’t on par with big-league competitors in terms of its gridiron action but says he’s impressed even to be compared with veteran game-makers. “That’s a good thing in my eyes. I want to compete with the best,” he says. “In 1996, when I worked for EA, back then they said the same things about Madden, it wasn’t all there yet.”
As visionary as Nerjyzed may be, the question of whether BCFX sales can truly benefit from extra entertainment content has yet to be answered. Landry and others say gamers don’t want an “experience” if the game itself isn’t the true focus.
“The experience of going to a Saints game or an LSU game—it was the consensus of the design team that you can’t capture that in a video game,” Landry says. “It makes the game less fun. I want to pick it up, I want to play it, I want to get into it right now.”
Management said it had market research to support its unconventional approach, but Landry says when he asked to see the data in order to tailor features to the audience, “It was never given to us. We were building a game with no target market in mind. It was assumed to be black college fans and alumni, and maybe they play games.”
Landry says payroll irregularities and health insurance premium snafus—when employee coverage allegedly was cut off without adequate notice because of nonpayment by the company—diminished morale at the company, which he left about a year ago.
Photo by Marie Constantin
FOOTBALL VETERAN: Nerjyzed’s creative director, Brian Jackson, a veteran of EA and Microsoft football games, is gratified to hear Black College Football Xperience compared to first-tier game-makers.
“We’re not going to address any of that,” Beauchamp says. “Anything that we do operationally is always kept confidential here. Whether it’s true or not, it’s not something that we will get into with the media.” She maintains that the company did extensive consumer studies that directly led to the unique music and halftime content of the game.
Perhaps anticipating early sales hurdles, Nerjyzed proposed a curious marketing strategy in June 2009. In an e-mail to investors, CFO Frederick Johnson said 3,000 reserve preorders needed to be placed with GameStop stores, which he said would then issue purchase orders for 10 times that amount. To make that happen, Johnson encouraged investors to reserve 20 copies each at a GameStop in their area.
“You can only reserve five copies, or $25 per customer,” his e-mail said. “The reserve cost is $5 per game. To reach your 20 reserve orders, you will have to reserve the other 15 [in sets of five] copies in other individuals’ names that have a different address than yours. Your total outlay will be $100. If you choose to cancel your order upon receiving notice that your order[s] is available for pick up by the store, the store will issue you an in-store credit.”
The sales inflation effort sounds like an attempt to game the gaming industry. Whether the gambit worked or not, a spokesman for one industry monitor says BCFX is not exactly a hit. Jacob Mazel, senior VGChartz sales analyst, says there are three tiers of football games: fully licensed NFL games, fully licensed NCAA games, and other entrees, where Nerjyzed’s offering falls. Whereas hit games in tier one can sell millions of units, he says, the bottom level is a much smaller market with a corresponding bottom line.
“Tier three has far more competition. Backyard Football titles released in 2009 have sold about 100,000 units,” he says. “Family Fun Football for Wii is at about 20,000 units. The entire tier three market for football games is probably no more than half a million units in a good year.”
He says sales of 100,000 units means roughly 1% of the Xbox 360 North American audience has played the game, while fewer people own it, although a game reaching that sales mark could at least break even.
Baton Rouge Area Chamber President/CEO Adam Knapp says he heard from Nerjyzed that the holiday sales boost put the company “slightly ahead” of where it expected to be and current on its obligations. He says the Walmart deal involves BCFX product placement in stores.
“Three weeks ago, we were wondering whether they would get through the process and whether that would be sufficient,” he says. “They were struggling with the latter part of last year. It’s common to see companies go through periods of cash-flow lows. Almost all venture-backed companies and entrepreneurs go through cycles.”
Knapp says taking on a greater publishing and marketing role makes Nerjyzed more attractive to venture-capital backers by giving the company a greater share of revenue. Though he says the decision involved a short-term financial hit, “it was, by far, the right decision for their company.”
“They’re through the period of challenge that is going to go down for them as something of a period of lessons to be learned. They’re in a good position for growth. They’re seeing new opportunities line up in front of them.”
Mathis Wrenn was an early investor for Nerjyzed. He says he put about $35,000 toward the venture in 2004 at its launch because Beauchamp and his father knew each other in Texas. Wrenn says he was excited to be involved with a game that could shed positive light on HBCUs such as Grambling State and Southern, Beauchamp’s alma mater.
“The concept was a strong concept,” he says. “I thought, ‘Wow, man, that’d be real cool.’ I’ve always been a huge supporter of African Americans, the success of African Americans. I come from a family of proud people of varying colors.” He participated in the company’s marketing tour in 2007, riding across the Southeast in a rented bus that was evocatively detailed with BCFX images.
“The concept was a strong concept. I thought, ‘Wow, man, that’d be real cool.’”MATHIS WRENN, angel investor
He says he has yet to see a return on his investment, or any promise of a return, or a timeline for stock being issued in exchange. “There’s been no reporting on gains or losses,” he says, noting of that second-quarter 2006 report, “It was very attractive, but it didn’t even talk about the money raised. It was a good-looking piece on relationships and hopes and expectations.”
In a December 2008 e-mail exchange with company CFO Frederick Johnson about investment concerns, Wrenn asked to see the minutes of annual board of directors meetings from 2006 and 2007, but got a discouraging response.
“Our board serves in an advisory capacity only. There are no formal minutes recorded,” Johnson said in his reply. “Nerjyzed is a startup that requires continued individual investments and personal debt creation to fund operations. All debts of the company are of personal nature, since we have no income or history of generating revenue.
“Your request is valid but you must take into consideration who are most at risk, Jackie and I. Personal debt obligations are in the millions with no recourse. All this would be a mute [sic] point if we throw in the towel like 99% of all startups do.”
To be sure, startups often project rosy returns to hook investors, but Wrenn says the company had unrealistic audience expectations. “You needed a supercomputer with at least 2 to 4 gigs of RAM and a hefty graphics card, and I told Fred in confidence, ‘The average African American doesn’t have this kind of computer. You can’t run a PC game that can’t run on Windows 98, or Windows 95, and hit our market.’
“His answer was, ‘If you bought a computer in the past three years, it will work.’ That tells me they’re out of whack.”
Wrenn says voicing his displeasure put him on the hot seat. “I was fired because I asked too many questions. I thought I was protecting my investment, but I never controlled it,” he says, adding that the design team was inexperienced yet expected to compete on a level with EA and other major players.
Concert audio producer Steven Salgado worked as a sound designer for Nerjyzed for about two and a half years before leaving in September 2008. He says he didn’t feel that management allowed enough production time, given the novice status of the designers.
“Ninety-five percent of the staff had never made a game, but we were held to the same quality [standards] as if we’re five-, six-year professionals,” he says. “The programmers were gamers but never worked a game.”
GAMES ON: Nerjyzed’s Black College Football Xperience includes halftime shows that replicate band performances, a virtual sports museum and college football games. (Photos courtesy Nerjyzed Entertainment)
Beauchamp says while her team was inexperienced, to correct that was the point of the workforce training that helped the company locate in Baton Rouge and wound up educating about 30 employees. Nerjyzed has roughly 40 current workers, she says, and the best days for them are yet to come.
Back in 2006, a Louisiana Economic Development Corporation agreement allotted $950,000 in funds for the company, including $585,400 for computer hardware and software that would be donated to Baton Rouge Community College. That was to augment $12 million in company funding, according to records kept by the Louisiana Economic Development office—although Beauchamp told The Mo’Nique Show the company had only raised $8 million.
The training deal was contingent on creating 58 new jobs with a payroll of $3.84 million by 2007. In 2006, Beauchamp wrote to the state regarding “critical gaps in locating competent professionals in the areas of video game animation and programming,” saying job fairs at Southern University and elsewhere had only resulted in 22 hires. She successfully renegotiated the workforce-training offer to 31 new jobs and a smaller payroll.
BRCC contacted Nerjyzed and the state in March 2008 asking for its equipment, including dozens of notebook and desktop computers, video editing software, cables, iPods and other gear. A 90-day transition period was worked out where Nerjyzed would cycle out the donated equipment with newly rented gear.
Part of the agreement also called for Nerjyzed to help instruct BRCC students in game design skills. “Baton Rouge Community College is committed to developing a benchmark educational environment for video game development with its industry partner Nerjyzed Entertainment LLC,” the college said in a statement on the arrangement. Beauchamp says her designers and artists speak to BRCC students when called on, but don’t formally teach.
“As we move the company into different directions, different paths of diversifying our revenue, we’re going to be extremely busy,” Beauchamp says confidently. “I’m excited that we’re still here, excited that we’re here in Baton Rouge. Everything has not been perfect on all fronts.”
Yet that glass-half-full thinking wasn’t enough for one animation designer who left the company last month over the recent payroll delays. “They still owe people a lot of checks. I have a wife to take care of and bills to pay,” says the ex-employee, who declined to have his name published. “If I get on the record, I’ll probably never see those paychecks.”
After working in 3D animation in Dallas, he came to Nerjyzed in late 2007 but says he never got a raise in his two-plus years there. He also says health insurance glitches were a key financial distraction.
“We’re supposed to have benefits. It’s part of the contract,” he says. “Our insurance was canceled—it’s been canceled on and off ever since I’ve been there. People ended up going to the doctor and getting whatever they need done, and they’re told to pay the full bill.
“We found out by word of mouth, hey, insurance isn’t working. What would have been nice to know ahead of time is if they had said, ‘Hey guys, our resources are running out, you might want to find a temporary job. We’ll let you know when we can bring everyone back on staff.’ We’re all kind of stuck in the dark.”
At Business Report’s recent 2010 Leadership Power Breakfast, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced to the crowd, “You’re going to see a growing digital media presence right here in Louisiana.” It will be something to watch for: Whether Nerjyzed lands its capitalization deal, puts its fiscal hiccups behind and helps carry the flag for digital media investment in the Capital Region.
The learning process
Yatec President Dean Majoue understands the challenge of financing when it comes to digital media startups. He says the PC video game maker, which launched in 2006 in Baton Rouge, has gone from a high of about 15 staff members to four now.
Figuring out how to secure funding has been a key challenge, he says, noting the trade group Louisiana Internet Software & Technology Association has been a helpful partner in that learning process.
The company’s third and most recent game, Say-N-Play, came out in November 2008 and is designed to help children address language articulation difficulties. After first marketing the release to speech therapists, Majoue says Yatec is retooling its approach to target home users.
“I would hope by the end of the second quarter we’d be seeing some real activity with it,” he says of the new direction. “The biggest problem is just getting our marketing together.”
He says the company has three Facebook games in the evaluation stage and is considering two iPhone games, including a version of previous release Enchanted Gardens. More ambitiously, he says, a large multiplayer Web site has been on Yatec’s agenda for some time but “will require a good bit of money” to realize.
One potential revenue maker the company plans to create is a suite of games that function as advertising. That has been done nationally, Majoue says, but Yatec is “trying to take advantage of it with some hopefully well-known local companies.”
Comments
Posted by st2000e on February 9, 2010 at 10:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like a very dishonest company.
Is it my understanding that they basically boosted the number of copies sold by having investors pre-order under false names/addresses and then cancel their orders?
And what about the employees not being payed or reimbursed for travel expenses? I'm surprised they still have people on staff when they're not seeing the money!
Sounds like there's a lot of hope placed in something that's only going to continue to flop. Give the workers more time to make a good game for goodness sakes! They expect a game out by summer? Good luck getting those un-payed employees to work overtime (or to work at all)!
Posted by ItStartedHere on February 10, 2010 at 8:31 a.m.
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Posted by est2000 on February 10, 2010 at 11:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dishonest and dillusional would be an acurate discription of the company from my experience. I was employed by Nerjyzed for two plus years and I experienced the almost total lack of professionalism toward employees, investors, outsourcing companies and potential customers as well.
Beyond the company's well-deserved poor reputation within the industry, the company seems to still hold little understanding of the video game market and even the small niche audience to which they hope to sway.
Understandably, there are many investors and gamers who would gladly support a company with Nergized goal of offering positive games by and for African-Americans.
With very poor management and poor products the company will remain a blight for Louisiana. Espescially with the truth beginning to come out.
Posted by gamedeveloper on February 10, 2010 at 2:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I worked for Nerjyzed nearly two years and witnessed the injustice done to the employees first hand. 60-80 hour work weeks were the norm for nearly all of 2007 with no overtime compensation and sub-industry (and sub-local) standard salaries. Promises of compensation in the form of raises and bonuses never happened, and late payments or insurance cancellation happened too often.
Poor planning, poor leadership, lack of experience, and a lack of the ability to learn from mistakes created a game that was constantly behind schedule and of poor quality. This combined with substandard employee treatment caused very low employee morale and had many employees quickly leaving for better opportunities.
With no other options for game developers in south Louisiana, many employees have stayed despite the poor outlook. It's a real shame that Nerjyzed was the first to take advantage of the wonderful incentives given to game developers by the state, only to abuse them and create a work environment where no one wants to be. I hope that one day developers such as myself will find an upstanding organization to call home here in Baton Rouge.
P.S.
I'm not sure what kind of math is used here, but how are they breaking even? 100,000 copies at $40 a piece is only half of $8 million. This assumes Nerjyzed receives a full $40 per sale, although we know Microsoft and retailers also get their cut. Mathis, my friend, don't expect a return on your investment any time soon.
Posted by Mjolnir on February 10, 2010 at 2:43 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
Posted by rinaldi1980 on February 10, 2010 at 5:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let me say for the record that Nerjyzed is no different from most small start up businesses.I have been the owner of several. Ms. Beauchamp fellow Southernite don't be discouraged by what is written here. Those employees are due their pay and you will make it good I am sure.
But lets not just look at this as a failure. Not too long ago people that read this paper were saying we can't attract business here like they do in Dallas or Austin. Well here we have a local woman makes good and folks want to drag her and the product down.
Every company goes through challenges. Remember the dot com boom and bust? Oh how short are our memories. What about that great start up the Football Network? For some reason the state poured money into that and it went out of business.
The game will improve as time goes on. My sons own it and so does many of their pals. You will weather this storm. Please remember you are a Southernite! Some people that have never had that experience will never know what is like to take risk and to lead a company. We are proud of you and we know that it is in you and your team to grow your firm.
You will always have those who could have done it better, different and greater. Never give up on your faith, or in yourself.Please for all of the young people that will see you as a trail blazer you cannot quit. For those that invested in you they will ge tit back. I was once told by a wise professor on campus "never put up what you can't afford to get back". You know all of this already! You go girl!
Southernite
Posted by st2000e on February 10, 2010 at 5:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The above sounds very optimistic.
I'd say if the company can FINALLY learn from it's mistakes, maybe, JUST maybe they will succeed.
Posted by TheTruth on February 10, 2010 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The true story of this company has never been told and the way it continues to be advertised is disheartening. Three black men worked hard to start this company and hired on two individuals who took the idea and ran (literally). There is nothing worse than taking credit for something that was never a thought in your head until someone shared their hard work and thoughts with you. It's sad to see something that could have been a great accomplishment for the African American community be run into the ground by those who are too greedy and concerned with themselves to know when the THE TRUTH should be told.
Posted by findchuck247 on February 10, 2010 at 6:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think this writer is confusing his role with being an investigative reporter rather than a business writer. Ms. Beauchamp has stepped up to the plate and taken a swing at something few other women, much less African-American women have ever attempted! Yet I find that her "missteps" are treated with much greater weight than her successes! I challenge you Mr. Brown or you "st2000e" to step into her shoes for just a day. I doubt that you could handle the stress. To see what the demands on her life are...to be responsible to investors on one hand and be responsible for her employees and their families on the other. All while working in an industry that experiences major technological shifts two or three times over the life of the development cycle of a video game. It's like trying to hit a moving target while blindfolded! And she handles it all with a grace and poise that few could muster. It's easy to criticize someone who is taking a risk when you are sitting back and collecting a regular paycheck. It's easier to make a story "readable" by taking pot shots and pointing out "failures". One rarely needs talent to create a story with such an angle. But I can tell you that Ms. Beauchamp is a hero to a lot of young people who never dreamed they could have a future in the high-paying video game industry until she came along and showed that it could be done. So I say, either get behind her and help push her forward or gather a bit of courage and go out and create jobs and become a role model yourself! Because until you do, in my humble opinion your article is at best self-serving. Oh by the way, Ms. Beachamp has received less money from the state than her counterpart at EA Sports, but has created more jobs! You failed to mention that Mr. Brown. If Ms. Beauchamp is the CEO that I think she is, she should take her company to a city in a state that appreciates her and the economic windfall she creates. I should state for the record that I am neither an Nerjyzed “employee” nor “shareholder” in case you were thinking of playing that card. Such an article makes me think twice about the veracity and reputation of your publication in regard to true business reporting.
Posted by TyLaw on February 10, 2010 at 7:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like these employees need to look into a lawsuit. Companies like this are the last thing Louisiana needs. These employees should research labor laws as well as the EA Spouse lawsuit from a few years back. Companies like this need to be taught a lesson.
My whole problem with BCFX was the fact that an entire portion of the title was devoted to the hope that gamers were already going to own the drum pad peripheral (which either retails in $100+ combo packs of rock band, band hero, or from third party peripheral companies). Otherwise you play that part of the game on a controller. Not quite the same. Gamers arent always the richest people so for this company to assume their users had a drum pad showed how a good idea can grow into a poorly planned out feature. If you didnt already have the drum pad, do you have to go out and spend an extra hundred bucks on something just to fully enjoy one of the advertised features of the game?
Finally, the driving force in the gaming industry is innovation. Last time I checked, football games arent anything new. And whats worse is the fact that there is already a company who completely and totally owns the football genre (even though they have their own issues when it comes to game design). This is the equivalent of a group of friends sitting in their living room trying to reinvent cola and build a company off of it. Have fun with that one.
This company should be ashamed.
Posted by TyLaw on February 10, 2010 at 7:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
PS - "Technological shifts" do not occur 2-3 times over the course of a projects development. The current console lifespan is 5-7 years. If thats a moving target then I have to blame the shooter.
Posted by keeneye on February 10, 2010 at 8:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is clear Ms. Beauchamp is ahead of her time and out of her league here in Baton Rouge. Fortunately, Business news leaders like Wall Street Journal and Forbes recognize that. Quite frankly, the disappointment here is in the Baton Rouge Business Report. As all companies experience hardships as well as acquire their share of disgruntled (clearly "ex") employees, but to only reflect the negative comments of former employees is disheartening. However, what is clear is Ms. Beauchamp has a lot of confidence in Baton Rouge to move her company from a forward thinking, true "business" minded city as Dallas, as well as it certainly took guts and faith to believe that Baton Rouge is RE-NERJYZED. For that she was mistaken. Is it a mere coincidence Ms. Beauchamp is on the cover during the month of February "Black History Month?" How shallow. I would be curious to see how many magazines were sold because Ms. Beauchamp is on the cover. The Baton Rouge Business Report has just performed its' first public lynching for 2010.
Posted by HRrep on February 10, 2010 at 11:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm sorry, but you cannot defend a management team that doesn't pay it's employees and cancels their benefits without sufficient notification and then use the phrase "ahead of her time and out of her league". They are supposed to be paid for the services they render, and management is not holding up it's end of the deal. The company is not paying health insurance premiums and the employees are the ones to suffer. Not to mention any type of management who is getting their investors to buy into their scheme of getting Gamestop to order copies of the game knowing they won't pay - that's purposefully inflating the production numbers so the company can make more money and is extremely unethical. Anyone who goes through business classes in this age will have to sit through classes on ethics, and this isn't even a gray line of an ethical dilemma. This company is playing everyone for the fool and getting away with it by flying under the radar because of it's small size.
Obviously their business model of making a game in an already saturated genre didn't work. Spending this much time and resources in an industry that is driven by new technology and the speed of innovation is nothing but a waste. It didn't work, either adapt or go under. Have the guts to cut your losses and give SOME of the money back to the stakeholders. You can't spend years working on a game without making revenue, and then market that one game to such a small market of the video game community. So you have almost NO cash flow coming in for the duration of the project (which tends to get delayed as you have inexperienced employees who are now disgruntled and have little reason to work hard for a boss that doesn't pay them), and have a staff to pay their wages and benefits during that entire period. You can't keep increasing in debt with no cash coming in. Don't string your employees and creditors along - let them know what's going on, and if you can't make money, apologize and close up shop and pay them what you can. This isn't Monopoly money.
Posted by keeneye on February 11, 2010 at 6:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here's a thought.....the employees of Nerjyzed are not being held captive. Maybe they are loyal, committed, innovative people who recognize and appreciate a leader who takes on what appears to the "average" spectator the impossible. Maybe they appreciate someone who will give them the opportunity when the only experience they have is "in the restaurant business" or "no experience" at all. Maybe she recognizes something in them they could not see themselves. So for the employees who have chosen to stay, I certainly will not insult them. I applaud them. I believe it is safe to say if they wanted to leave they would. And I think taking a risk on "inexperienced" people is not a bad thing, but if in fact they are hindering your business - fire them. Could that be a major factor in the financial problems? Most companies largest expenditures are payroll and benefits. What's the worse thing could happen - we'll see it in the Baton Rouge Business Report.
As for the investors of Nerjyzed, they as Ms. Beauchamp are forward thinkers and risk takers. That is what greatness and success are made of and for that matter money. I commend them for supporting an innovator who is committed to producing products for a market segment that are positive and educational. There can never be enough of those.
I encourage the Nerjyzed team and their investors, to keep moving forward. Many can't see what you see, fewer than that are willing to make a sacrifice, and fewer than that will have the courage to applaud you. Quite frankly, it is just my humble belief that what I am reading from those who are very disturbed by your success and the success to come are envious.
One suggested to stay out of a competitive market flooded with product. I am sure just in our most recent history those innovators at VIZIO were told the same thing. Glad they hung in there. Come on this is America, competition is good, healthy and many times lucrative. The only failure is to give up.
Ms. Beauchamp please don't take the advice to "close up shop" there are too many young people who need to see you , and to recognize that there is no perfect path to success and that mistakes will be made along the way. While you are still here in Baton Rouge, please continue to give opportunity to the inexperienced. However, the choice to pass by those alongside the road means you are out front, you are on the cover and broad shoulders and faith are required to whether storms like these - but never allow them to become your voice.
Ms.Beauchamp you are in great company, so many successful and innovative people were misunderstood, believed to be dillusional, but they all started somewhere. Unfortunately, for you it is here in Baton Rouge. There are things here that will never change, I don't recommend spending your limited resources trying to do so. This isn't Monopoly money. Because there is no Boardwalk here....it is still Dixie.
Posted by tv_ltd on February 11, 2010 at 8:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So let me understand what this report is saying. A few years ago Louisiana made some law encouraging companies to come here and make movies, video games, etc...
One of the people instrumental in making that law was Ms. Beauchamp. Then Louisiana asked her to mover her company here. So she moved a company here and gave local people with little or no video game creation experience a chance of a lifetime.
Of course there was no one here who had any lengthy video game experience, but she gave people a chance. Not only did she give people a chance, but she gave back to the community. Not only were there jobs created, but the baton rouge youth also got to see it first hand. I personally have witnessed youth being able to go into their studio and learn about how video games are made. Do you think other video game companies would let 30 6th graders come in for a visit? But I digress.
It seems to me that this article was very one sided. It seems an ex-employee was upset that Nerjyzed actually did something without them. They became the first African-American owned company to put a game out on the Xbox 360.
But instead of celebrating the fact that it was done right here in Baton Rouge by a person who grew up here, went to college here, and returned here to help Baton Rouge draw more companies here in a recession, the Baton Rouge Business Report decides to tear down the company and basically throw all the "dirty laundry" in the street.
Someone mentioned earlier that Nerjyzed should "close up shop." My response to that is, please Ms. Beauchamp, please stay. I have seen the positive impact you have had on the youth of Baton Rouge. Your employees that have spoken to the kids in middle school are role models to them. I have see our youth here get better grades because of the mentoring you and your employees are doing. Your company is making a positive impact on Baton Rouge. Don't let the struggles that most technology based start-up companies go through cause you to close shop. The bottom line is keep doing what you think is right for the company and keep being a positive force here in Baton Rouge.
Ms. Beauchamp, when the mud slinging starts, remember this from Rudyard Kipling...
(from the poem IF by Rudyard Kipling)
...
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
...
Posted by frenikajs on February 11, 2010 at 9:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
WOW!!! I worked for Nerjyzed May 2008 to August 2008 and I must say I left just in time. I can speak on the payroll issues. My last paycheck came back NSF. I went to them about it and they said that they cancelled the check cause they thought they paid me for too many hours. Two things are wrong with that: [1] If they so called did that.. They NEVER mentioned it to me BEFOREHAND! I found out about the NSF check from my bank when I received NSF charges that occured from that bounced check. [2] They could have checked their records and seen that they did not pay me for more time. I asked them to pay for the NSF charges that occured because of the bounced check and they did not. It also took a long time just for me to get the check. I had to call and go there several times before I got it. After that, I just didn't worry about the NSF charges cause I figured it was a lost cause..
But one previous comment talked about how the employees could be loyal - in my opinion, they are. Some would work all day, sleep there, wake up, and work some more - they were VERY dedicated.
Posted by jrball (JR Ball) on February 11, 2010 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
For those who say Business Report should celebrate the courage and risk Ms. Beauchamp took in starting Nerjyzed, I would suggest they become more frequent readers of our publication. They would see we've written numerous articles on the company and previously named Ms. Beauchamp one of Baton Rouge's Influencial Women in Business. Have you read those stories?
Posted by gamedeveloper on February 11, 2010 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"all companies experience hardships as well as acquire their share of disgruntled (clearly "ex") employees, but to only reflect the negative comments of former employees is disheartening"
-- I challenge you to find former (or even current) exmployees who are not disgruntled.
"One of the people instrumental in making that law was Ms. Beauchamp. Then Louisiana asked her to mover her company here. So she moved a company here and gave local people with little or no video game creation experience a chance of a lifetime."
-- There is no doubt that Ms. Beauchamp has done much to help Louisiana move forward with the video game industry, but that does not excuse her for treating employees poorly and using unethical business practices.
"Here's a thought.....the employees of Nerjyzed are not being held captive. Maybe they are loyal, committed, innovative people who recognize and appreciate a leader who takes on what appears to the "average" spectator the impossible. "
-- They are not held captive, but they do have very few options for industry jobs in the area. The employees who have remained at Nerjyzed are indeed loyal - loyal to the state of Louisiana. They could easily find better opportunities in California, Texas, etc., but prefer to live their lives here in Baton Rouge. It's a shame that these employees are not treated with the respect they deserve.
Lastly, I do not agree that Nerjyzed should close shop. However, I hope that Ms. Beachamp and her management team realize the mistakes they have made and make every effort to make ammends. For this company to truly succeed, they must work hard to keep their talented employees happy or else they will have no one left to move the company forward.
Posted by TheTruth on February 11, 2010 at 4:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Stepped up to the plate"? "A hero"? If only you knew THE TRUTH. Things are not as they seem. It is my opinion that the company is having the problems that it is having because of the way it was stolen from others. As I said and will continue to say...one day everyone will know the true story and will be shocked and surprised of what people will do to gain success. Has any publication ever asked the owner if they have ever marched in a band? Where did they get the idea for the game? How they came up with it? Or were they hired by others to help with the company? NOT run with it and mess up the dreams of those who started it with their blood, sweat, and tears....
Posted by Mjolnir on February 11, 2010 at 8:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well JR, sorry if my prior comments weren't to your liking, but that doesn't change the truth that they didn't pay their employees!
And came up with a myriad of excuses why they couldn't.
My son was one of those employees and FINALLY got paid only after contacting an attorney.
Unfortunately, the previous articles don't really concern me because I didn't have a personal interest in them at the time.
And that may disqualify my comments to a degree.
Whether this company was ahead of it's time or not, it was unconsionable to do this to their employees.
Posted by NEowesMeMoney on February 12, 2010 at 7:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I worked there. I slept there. More times than not, I was the first one in and the last one out. I worked 36 hour days. I never complained. I had fun...and then something changed. There was an awakening to what was really going on. The people in charge had a great idea. They had no idea how to make it. A team of gamers making a game without game development experience is still far better than a team of selfish people trying to market a gimmick. Our ideas were tossed aside, almost laughed at. We knew games. They knew marketing. Let us make a game and, let them market it. 4 games in one? Yeah, when's the last time a gamer really ran to the store to buy one of those. Sales expectations were sky high. Money was below sea level. No understanding of development time. "Work harder", "We gotta push!", "You guys need to work harder!". Those were the motivational words of wisdom. That's what we got. When that failed, they fired someone to "get us back on track". More like a public execution. They hung stock options in our face like a carrot on a stick. I reviewed them. It wasn't stock. It was nothing more than a ploy to get the employees to pour 2, 3 or up to 5 thousand dollars into the company as "stock". The reality was they were broke. They wanted us to pay them so they could afford to pay us. They promised us bonus checks, raises, new hardware and software. Paid vacation days, they said we had. If you didn't take them, it was liquidated, they said. That's what they said...but that's not what happened. We were the understanding employees at first. Sure, times are tough, no big deal. 3 late paychecks though? Well, I can't pay my rent and my car note is past due. Can you help me? You're my lively hood. I am attached to you in a way that you cannot imagine. Help us!, they said. Help me?, I humbly requested. Nothing was their response. I am a college graduate I told them. I have student loans to pay off. My salary is already low, but a raise is in my future, you told me. So I am ok living in my one bedroom with no cable TV and enough internet to at least check my Facebook. Now even the bare minimum isn't there. I'm from out of town I told them. If I get evicted I have no place to live! I ended up on a co-worker's couch for a while. I'm breaking my back for you! I'm destroying my credit in an effort to make history with you! Can you help me help you now? It's been over a year of unwavering dedication! Are you questioning me, they asked? Well, we're going to have to let you go, they said.
I went back home and my key didn't work. My things were still inside. The landlord let me in to pack my belongings and with what little I had left I went back to where they found me, worse for the wear. But it's ok. My name is on a video game title. The first video game made by a black woman. It was all worth it right?
Posted by NEowesMeMoney on February 12, 2010 at 7:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
But really..I did work there and here's my point of view...its how I FEEL and what I perceived to be true based on my experience and my knowledge of first hand accounts.
The bottom line is that Jacquie did not "pave the way" for other gaming companies to come to Louisiana and show them that it can be done. If anything, she showed the country that relocating here will be a suicide move and exposed LA's lack of local talent. You think a company like EA or Rockstar would relocate here and then have to import talent from around the country? Especially when the pay scale in LA is so much lower by industry standards than anywhere else?
She set a precedent in the industry, yes. But that precedent was not that a black woman can make the FUBU of video games against adversity. The precedent set was that Louisiana cannot support a development house and provide local talent.
I defended this company on message boards and forums when they were called racist. I now regret it. They had a plan in place and that plan was to take a green dollar from a black hand. Creating a black game for black people on PC that couldn't run on most PC's owned by the average African American. Creating a black game for black people when studies shown that most African Americans owned Play Station 2s. Why on the Xbox? They thought they had connections at Microsoft. That's why. In the end it was "Lets make a sub-par product. It won't matter. They'll buy it anyway. Trends amongst the African American community is that they will buy "black products" before they buy anything else. Lets line our pockets with our gimmicky product and laugh all the way to the bank. We can be digital FUBU!" If that's not the case, then why was it only marketed on African American TV programs and featured more so in African American publications praising Jacquie and the company...
Posted by NEowesMeMoney on February 12, 2010 at 7:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Part 2..my comment exceeded 3000 characters...
In fact the company could have quite possibly ruined the careers of quite a few people. So don't think we should be thanking her for bringing us our "dream job". You think I want to put my employment with Nerjyzed on my resume? Of course I don't. It's an embarrassment! Not to mention that employees who left would no doubt get bad feed back when my new potential employer contacts my previous employer. But I also can't leave a 3 year gap on my resume either.
The place reeks of corruption. For God's sake...she dealt with Enron when she was with Motorola. I'm sure she's learned plenty successful business practices from them.
And finally, for anyone that has an issue with this article's "bashing" of the company, this is the ONLY write up that isn't some butt-kissing article about how great the company and the game is. Great companies pay their employees. Great companies that offer health benifits. Great companies pay their bills. (Electric bills too. If any ex-employee remembers that incident). They pay their outsourcing. Every company that Nerjyzed used to do outsourcing would either not get paid or end up in a disagreement on what was owed because Nerjyzed had a reason as to why they didn't owe them the full amount. I read the emails. At one point in time, a total of almost $150,000 was owed to various companies for work that was done for us.
This is not the story of a great company. This article is the TRUTH and for that, I am thankful that it is finally being spoken.
Posted by NEowesMeMoney on February 12, 2010 at 8 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And to tv_ltd and their accusation of a one sided article...why don't you try to read EVERY OTHER PRESS RELEASE EVER PUT ON ON THIS COMPANY and you'll see what one sided is really all about.
Posted by exNerjyzedEmployee on February 12, 2010 at 5:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I also worked at nerjyzed for about a year. To all the people talking about all that Nerjyzed "did for louisiana", stop kidding yourself. Did you not READ the part of the article that said the state GAVE about 1 million taxpayer dollars to the company??!! That's why they came to Louisiana. It wasn't to do the state a favor. 1 million taxpayer dollars to create that abomination of a game.
And to the people who said that these employees weren't held captive and could have left whenever they wanted, you're wrong. When you quit, Nerjyzed doesn't give you the back paychecks they owe you. It happened to me and it happened to a few other people I know. So if they owe you 3 or 4 back paychecks, quitting isn't an option. You just have to keep coming to work and hope they'll eventually pay what they owe. So you're basically a prisoner at that point. Nerjyzed, modern day American slavery. How ironic.
Posted by est2000 on February 14, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Many thanks to Mr.Brown and Mr. Ball for your efforts and service to the great B.R. community. It's uplifting to finally see some of the ugly truths about this company revealed.
I can only hope that Ms. Beauchamp does indeed get her just rewards one day...courtesy of some well deserved and hard-earned lawsuits against her.
Posted by DefMech on February 16, 2010 at 5:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nerjyzed has a long, hard road ahead of it if they plan to continue developing. The game industry is a small, tight-knit community and it's even more microscopic here in BR. Nerjyzed has a toxic reputation (and had it from the beginning among some of us) in town and it's going to be very difficult for them to recruit more talent. They're going to need it, too, considering that essentially their entire art team is gone.
It's hard to view the executives there as anything other than exploitative opportunists who just moved here for a quick buck. They had no idea what they were doing, jumped in head first to the deep-end(next-gen console dev), couldn't keep their heads above water and tried to pull everyone else down with them. Good riddance.
Posted by Paleface on February 16, 2010 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I worked there for a while...
They owed me five weeks of pay, I finally got it after many emails and phone calls. Current employees would call me and let me know they got paid one check, I would then call/email to follow up on my payment.
If they owe you money, you can't stop asking about it. Everyday if need be. You have a right to that money.
What I want current employees to know is that some of your co-workers are getting paid while you're still being told "it'll be tomorrow". I know this because I got calls from both sides of the fence.
This company has hijacked their employees, and to some extent, many of their investors, too. Outside of nerjyzed there are not many options in Louisiana for game developers and nerjyzed knows this, so when they don't pay on time, I'm sure they don't like it, but at the same time, they know they have the upper hand... That and they also lie so very much, employees don't know what's true or what's a lie at this point.
On the game design side... The game is bad, however, that could be fixed but these people have no clue how to task workers, follow a schedule--infact, during my time there I never once saw a schedule. The creative director spends way too much time on the bus driving from town to town pretending to be a designer when in reality he has no clue how to run a meeting, form processes needed to develop a game and wouldn't know the engine tech if it fell on his head.
Programming is just as bad... No path forward at all and is headed by someone that seems afraid to speak up. Not to mention, hacked and messy code writing.
Art is just as bad... No leadership, sub-par quality and lack of needed tech to get things done.
And finally, the rest of the game industry thinks the company is a joke, try getting a job in the industry if your only shipped title is from nerjyzed, good luck with that.
I just wish I would have done more homework on this place before I moved across country. For anyone thinking about employment with this company, you should really think hard about it and read the comments here as well as check with the BBB. Last I checked, they had an "F" rating.
In this industry, you are indeed captive when you work in Louisiana if your plans are to stay in the game industry.
Posted by WifeOfExEmployee on February 18, 2010 at 9:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, I feel like those who are praising Beauchamp and the way the company is being run aren't really saying anything at all!
We're still waiting for 2 paychecks! And I can say that for the most part, the employees aren't just being loyal. The only reason my husband stayed for so long is because there was nowhere else to go!
He has a new job now and he comes home HAPPY! That's a HUGE change from the way things were before he left Nerjyzed. I can say from experience, walking into Nerjyzed was exactly the opposite of that...it just sucked the energy right out of you! I didn't like to go visit him because I knew what kind of crap was going on there (even before the late paychecks).
The company may have a chance if they would just LISTEN to their employees! Listen to their ideas, give them time to execute those ideas to the greatest of their abilities. Stop limiting them! Trust that they know what they're doing. You hired them for a reason!
But unless you start paying them...NOW...you will get NO good work out of them.
And I have to say, I shared this situation with a co-worker of mine and her FIRST question was..."Is it a black company?" Now, I'm not racist by any stretch of the imagination, but this is what I have to say:
This company was partly created to give the black community a "good name" but the fact that the first question out of my co-workers mouth was "is it a black company?" is astounding! They are doing exactly the opposite of giving the black community a "good name" because of their poor business practices.
And to echo NEowesmemoney,"They had a plan in place and that plan was to take a green dollar from a black hand. Creating a black game for black people on PC that couldn't run on most PC's owned by the average African American. Creating a black game for black people when studies shown that most African Americans owned Play Station 2s. Why on the Xbox?"
That right there shows me they don't even CARE about the black community!
It is not my desire to see any company fail, not even Nerjyzed. I hope they make it through. I hope they learn from their mistakes. I hope that they are able to get out of DEBT and pay their employees and be able to pay future employees to make a GREAT game some day!
Posted by BR_Gaming on February 22, 2010 at 2:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am glad someone has finally shed some light on the truth about this company. I was someone who left another video game company position to come back home for a position in a Louisiana Based Gaming company. I did this due to my dreams of starting a Company here in Louisiana and thought it would be great to be able to work in the industry and be near my family. Upon taking a position we had agreed on some terms of payment which then later got reduced because I had more skillsets than the job required... Yes you heard that right, I had MORE skillsets so my pay went DOWN, their reasoning was that the second catagory that I also qualified for paid less. This should have been my first indication of something wrong with the company but I stayed, worked hard, and helped others until paychecks were regularly bouncing and our insurance was canceled. At this time no one had notified us about the insurance being canceled for months and I had medical bills due to this and a wife who needed medical insurance. I could no longer pay bills working at Nerjyzed and decided it was best to move on. I have stayed friends with many of the employees there and they are still under the normal abuse from what I hear but I have small hopes that the company can fix itself.
Now I am out of the company working for myself developing art or iphone games for several companies while trying to develop my own company here in Louisiana. I want to be able to create a place that we are proud of and the employees are treated right and we create products that Louisiana can be proud of. Maybe one day I can provide jobs to the mistreated employees. If any of you need any help creating something or advice on anything feel free to contact me. I am always willing to help.
Posted by exNEguy on March 9, 2010 at 9:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If anyone has in fact used an attorney to recover back pay, would they mind sharing the firm's contact details? The "company" owes me quite a bit as well.
Otherwise if anyone could recommend a law firm or what the next legal steps should be, please post. It would be much appreciated.
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