2023–2024 video game industry layoffs

[AnOminous]

I wonder does this mean there will be more woke trash indie games flooding the scene, or will actual creativity bloom, freed from corporate shackles.
Sadly I think it's the former.

Maybe in the middle or long term. It took eight YEARS to excrete the piece of shit Concord (that died in two weeks). I would bet there are some studios panicking they have years and tens of millions into some similar piece of wokeshit and trying to figure out if there's some way to salvage it.

Just getting rid of wokeshit isn't going to salvage them, though. They'll need to try something radical in the video game industry like, you know, actually having gameplay and shit.

 

[Fcret]

I always hear Burgers talking about the ‘83 crash like it was an apocalyptic event whilst us Europoors sat around with our ZX Spectrums and C64s having a great old times.

The Crash is largely folk historiography. Its purpose is twofold -

1) Minimize Atari, Coleco, Mattel etc. role in destroying themselves ("It's not Atari's fault they went under! The entire market crashed!")
2) Lionize Nintendo for 'saving' it ("Nintendo is what I grew up playing and it's most important so therefore it's logical that they saved everything!")

Household home computer ownership was basically the same between the US and Western Europe so it was pretty much the same story here - everyone played games on Apple IIs and C64s and even IBM PCs. The only real difference is that Americans love buying shit so when the NES came out and didn't suck shit, they bought it in addition to the PCs they already had.

"Crash of 83" stuff is mostly promulgated by people who weren't around at the time or by people who can directly benefit from it (like old Atari guys who don't want to look like fucking losers).

 

[Xarpho's Return]

This is the reason (or part of the reason) for the crash getting exaggerated as much as it. Ever since Call of Duty 4 (and I assume earlier), Nintendo fanboys have had a doomsday cult. If [current trend] continues, there will be a massive crash, then Nintendo will swoop in, save the console industry, and reign for 1000 years. Now say ten hail Shigsy's and go to bed.

I lean towards the crash being a thing, but fairly mild compared to the stories for two reasons. First is that we have games considered classics from that era. And second old guys that lived through it said they didn't really notice anything (unless they worked in retail at the time).

The lack of physical inventory is definitely one reason why a crash wouldn't work the same way as before. But the dot-com crash had no physical inventory at all and still adversely affected all those companies.

Even when I believed that there could be another video game crash circa 2004-2005, I knew Nintendo would never emerge the winner, they would likely have been the biggest victim (partly due to the weak catalog Nintendo had at the time, even if the handhelds did well). That's the thing, though, even if you accepted that Nintendo had games that people actually wanted to buy and play—original titles that hold up after decades, Nintendo doesn't really have anything impressive anymore, and wouldn't be the savior of the video game industry. The previews of Super Mario Odyssey looked deeper, more exciting, and more interesting than the game we actually got, and that's a trend I've noticed over the years (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Mother 3 to an extent—probably the Wii as well).

The other problem is assuming that things will be better. The economic doldrums of...heck, going back to post-9/11 even...didn't magically result in something better to swoop in and change everything. The reality is things will just be shittier and that's that.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I wonder does this mean there will be more woke trash indie games flooding the scene, or will actual creativity bloom, freed from corporate shackles.
Sadly I think it's the former.

Why not both?

The hatred of woke indies always confuses me, because I don't see them. Stardew Valley, Changed, Gunfire Reborn, FNAF, I've heard of those. But when someone starts talking about asset flips and wokeshit indies, it's either games with less than 200 reviews, or games from a decade ago like Gone Home. It's like when I hear of asset flips flooding steam, but I never see them, and it's usually the same games. ie. Hentai Hitler or whatever.

Even the few woke "indies" like Sub Nautica and Pacific Drive (I don't consider them indie but whatever) are hand waved as not-woke because they're actually good, while games I wouldn't consider woke like Palworld are condemned.


Anyway, the free money is drying up, so we might some of the recently laid-off try their hand at an indie game, but I doubt they'll go anywhere.

 

[Ibanez RG 350EX]

Even the few woke "indies" like Sub Nautica and Pacific Drive (I don't consider them indie but whatever) are hand waved as not-woke because they're actually good,

I must've missed the woke shit in Subnautica - were there references to climate change or something? It doesn't seem like underwater base building and minimal dialogue leaves a lot of room for Current Year political posturing.

 

[Judge Dredd]

must've missed the woke shit in Subnautica

I could be wrong as I was never a big fan of the game. I want to say the lack of guns and killing was because of some "guns bad" virtue signal, but I doubt that because their other big game (Natural Selection) is all guns.

There was also some drama about wanting to change the main character from a faceless player insert into a named black woman. They didn't go through with it, but they did do that with the DLC I think.

 

[Peaches the Wonder Cat]

You think you hate game developers, but you don't hate them enough.

Link

Spoiler: Ex-Hypixel game designer

My family and I are on food stamps.



What this DOESN’T mean:
We’re lazy
We’re using it for fast food
We’re a drain on society
We should be ashamed to talk about it

What it DOES mean:
My family isn’t going hungry
Our fridge is full of name brand, healthy food
I’m not having a panic attack in the grocery store
It’s one less thing I need to worry about while still waiting for my next job

In California we call “food stamps” (they are certainly not stamps anymore) SNAP or CalFresh, and it’s part of the robust social welfare system in our state. I’ve also been on Unemployment Insurance since May, utilized Disability Insurance when I was pregnant, and my family and I are also on Medi-Cal to ensure we have health insurance while I’m still job hunting.

I can’t tell you how lucky I feel to live in a state that takes care of its citizens — but the system is not perfect. Even as a smart, native-English speaking, tech savvy person, navigating the CalBenefits process was difficult and confusing at times. But the resources are there for people who can get access to them.

Like many, it’s hard for me to seek and/or accept help but I want to urge my fellow Californians (and those in other states with similar programs) to use every advantage you have if you’ve found yourself out of a job. You got this.

Link

Spoiler: Podcast notes

S2 E7: Anxiety and Depression w/ Emily Kelley Kunin, Game Development​

Our Fractured Minds


In week two of our content special during Pride Month, Emily and I discuss her dealings with depression and anxiety, coming out with regards to bisexuality, and, in the wake of last week's celebrity suicides, why it can be so difficult to ask for help when you need it.
If we're willing to be honest with each other, it's quite likely that Emily is one of the coolest people I know. She’s an award-winning writer who currently develops mobile games for both the iOS and Android platforms. She’s been working in gaming for three years, and has been writing for ten. Thanks to her variety of interests and backgrounds, she’s comfortable crafting branded content across a multitude of platforms for both internal and customer facing platforms, including places like the the Geekie Award-winning Wrong Button Blog which she co founded, and as the host of the Fan Theories and Wednesday in Westeros podcasts.
In the episode, we also discuss the importance of self care, however it works for you. For Emily, care was found in words from another time and place, known by millions around the world to be that of Hogwarts. We spend time discussing how her passions for all things Harry Potter, her personal love of writing, and a fascination with Helena Bertinelli helped her get through some of her darkest times.

Some of the mobile games that she's won writing awards for:
Link

- Choice: The Stories!
- American Girl!
- Fashion Superstar!

 

[Fcret]

tbh the food stamps stories are just par for the course and really highlight one of the problems with modern game dev - studios pay like shit. You might say, "games are too expensive now" and that's fair but the reality is that going into game dev as a skilled software engineer is a full-retard career move. Even if your specialty is in Unity or some shit, you can just as easily take your C# skills and go crank out enterprise .NET sludge in the Fortune 500 for like $130k/year minimum. It's soulless work but you're done by 5, get a good benefits package, and you have progression in an industry that isn't going to lay you off the second the shareholders get a little nervous. Oh, and those Fortune 500 normie companies are probably located in places with cheaper CoL and might even let you work fully remote from your $200/mo crack shack.

I don't really know how to solve this other than for studios to stop relying on the revolving door. They need to hire people early, keep them well-compensated, build institutional knowledge that can make onboarding additional devs easier, and stop diluting their payroll with retarded dreck.

I think game studios in the US are a little too used to their 90s and 2000s 'rockstar dudes in a garage' mentality and expect skilled people to be beating down their doors to trade their labor for metaphorical peanuts while the 'producers' and 'cultural sensitivity managers' are raking in ludicrous compensation packages.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

League Of Legends Developer Riot Games Confirms Another Wave Of Layoffs​

Hey all,
I want to share some important updates about @leagueoflegends PC. We’ve made changes to our teams and how we work to make sure we can keep improving the League experience now and for the long-term. But I want to be clear: we’re not slowing down work on the game you love. We’re investing heavily in solving today’s challenges faster while also building for the future.
As part of these changes, we’ve made the tough decision to eliminate some roles. This isn’t about reducing headcount to save money—it’s about making sure we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond. While team effectiveness is more important than team size, the League team will eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League. For Rioters who are laid off, we’re supporting them with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months' pay, annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more.

We have full confidence in @RiotMeddler, @RiotPabro, and the League leadership team, who are leading the charge in this next phase of League’s journey, and we look forward to sharing more about our ambitious plans in the future.
Thank you all for playing and for being part of the League community.
Marc

 

[TrinityReformed]

I could be wrong as I was never a big fan of the game. I want to say the lack of guns and killing was because of some "guns bad" virtue signal, but I doubt that because their other big game (Natural Selection) is all guns.

There was also some drama about wanting to change the main character from a faceless player insert into a named black woman. They didn't go through with it, but they did do that with the DLC I think.

Iirc, the sound guy was fired for his political views(don't remember of what though), the gun thing was turned political by the developers by saying that don't want to encourage gun violence, and last major thing that I can recall was the developer making a poll of whether to focus on gameplay or being able to play as a girl, and was shocked at the backlash.
Man, it's been a while.

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

that don't want to encourage gun violence

Mind telling these fine young gentlemen that?

.......

Yeah, that's what I thought.

 

[Back me up!]

I could be wrong as I was never a big fan of the game. I want to say the lack of guns and killing was because of some "guns bad" virtue signal, but I doubt that because their other big game (Natural Selection) is all guns.

There was also some drama about wanting to change the main character from a faceless player insert into a named black woman. They didn't go through with it, but they did do that with the DLC I think.

It was a really stupid response when the one that would have caused no issue/probably gotten more respect was a simple "Not having a gun ratchets up the feeling of terror in a alien, underwater world".

 

[Vyse Inglebard]

crosspost from the Nintendo thread:

And now, for the Nintendo news we've all been waiting for....
View attachment 6571143
Layoffs!

 

[ChefKiss]

I must've missed the woke shit in Subnautica - were there references to climate change or something? It doesn't seem like underwater base building and minimal dialogue leaves a lot of room for Current Year political posturing.

The first subnautica game is fine, the sequel is atrocious. The first had minimal dialogue, the second makes you play as a sheboon lesbian who never shuts the fuck up and is an expert on everything, she is disinterested and has nothing to learn from the planet because she already knows everything, has no flaws and makes marvel snarky quips about everything that happens. Pretty sure Silent Protagonist mod is the most popular mod for the game