Workers laid off at Cyan

The north Spokane company that produced bestselling videogames “Myst” and “Riven” has laid off about two dozen workers, citing a declining interest in the puzzle-solving genre it pioneered 18 years ago.

Cyan Worlds company founder Rand Miller told workers of that decision during a staff meeting Friday.

Launched in 1987, Cyan Worlds has sold more than 15 million copies of its visually striking adventure-puzzle games.

Back in 2000, the privately held company had close to 50 workers as it moved forward with ambitious plans for its largest game project, called “Uru.” That game, which was designed to be played online through subscriptions, was released in late 2003 after three years of work.

But its publisher, Ubisoft Entertainment, shut it down after several months, saying it had not generated sufficient revenue.

As of Tuesday, the only three workers left are Miller, his brother, Ryan Miller, and Cyan Worlds President Tony Fryman.

Word has spread through the company in recent weeks that downsizing might happen, said Ryan Warzecha, a former Cyan worker, on a Weblog he’s created.

“Many of us had the hope that something would come up, but it didn’t happen. I will try to stay in Spokane as long as I can. I got some really good things going for me right now here and I hate to see that (be) just dust in the wind,” Warzecha wrote on his Weblog,

Attempts Tuesday to reach Fryman or Rand Miller were unsuccessful.

A former employee who didn’t want to be identified said Fryman and Miller are looking to develop a new product but haven’t yet found a publisher who would back the venture.

Calls to reach Fryman and Miller on Tuesday were not successful

Gameplayers and fans of the company sent numerous messages to Cyan’s Web site, wishing the laid-off workers luck in finding jobs.

That group of followers has been a passionate, if not huge, base of fans who stay in touch with each other, said game developer Chris Gerlach, from Pagosa Springs, Colo.

“It’s a sad day but I’ve been telling other people to not be discouraged. Other companies have downsized and then came back up again,” said Gerlach.

Gerlach, who only discovered the Myst group of games in the past five years, called them landmarks in ingenuity and videogame development.

“They did more than just create games. They created a new form of literature, a new art form,” Gerlach said.

Miller, in a variety of interviews in the past year, has admitted the challenge for Cyan was developing a game that reached a large audience without resorting to explosions, gunfights and car chases — the standbys of many popular videogames today.

The company has limited revenue at this point, but expectations had been raised by the impending release of “Myst V,” described as the final chapter in the saga of Myst and its large cast of characters.

Unlike adventure-action games, the Myst group required players to search for clues, explore a landscape and connect information to gain an idea of the history of characters and why they behaved the way they did.

“Their games were unique,” added Gerlach. “They really did stimulate the imagination. I hope they haven’t reached the end.”