To me it’s pretty clear what direction the game industry is going. It’s heading to the Hollywood model. Before the 50’s the movie studios employed basically everyone that made a movie, down to the people that sowed the buttons on costumes. Now everyone is an indie contractor, but the studio’s own the IP. Spielberg or Nolan are not employee’s of a movie studio. They have made movies for multiple studios. MS is pretty close to doing this model now. I believe they will move closer to this model first and people with give them hell for it but sony will eventually follow. I’m not saying this model is good or bad but it will eventually happen.
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https://x.com/fromcero/status/1762499670335766779?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
“Thank you for hyping Spider-Man 2. Now get lost.”
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One thing I noticed that both Xbox and PS (and probably others as well) have said in their layoff reasonings that they need to be “sustainable”.
Could be PR speak or it could be them officially admitting that AAA model has finally gotten out of hand. imo that happened several years ago.
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Suits. Psychopaths the lot of em.
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It seems like quite a few community managers in this industry have been sacked in recent months. I wonder what that’s all about.
In any case my only takeaway relates to the unhealthy relationship between many consumers & the industry players. Both sides are at fault. The whole ‘you’re part of a community!’ media narrative these corporations push (especially Sony) has led to rampant fanboyism across the industry.
When I buy a Volvo, I’m not a member of the ‘great Volvo community’. When I buy a Bosch dishwasher, I’m not a member of the 'great Bosch kitchen appliances & utensils" community.
So if I buy a PlayStation, I’m not suddenly a member of a “Sony community” either. But millions of people really do think they are. Hence the fanboysim & some of the more bizarre reactions I’m reading tonight (like some geniuses in some forums claiming consumers of video games need to pay more to preserve the industry from layoffs… i.e. which is something I’d label fanatical & zealous).
I play video games for what they are & I’m prepared to pay what I believe the products deserve. Nothing more. I’m certainly not going to get guilted by other consumers into paying more, or believe I’m a part of some sort of ‘community’ which has a special relationship with a massive corporation.
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It is possible that they have a similar reason or different but still troubling effect. Hard to say. It’s a bit similar to WWE in 2021 where they had a mass exodus due to “budget cuts.” I think Xbox is trying to find a way to minimize the damage further while PS is trying to change a course to lessen the damage. The fact they keep closing studios and cancel more games while we have no road map is a bit concerning.
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This has been the case for years. Some of the largest gaming companies in the world are only support like Keyword with over 10k employees.
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He had their cake and ate it!
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Something MS actually considered and look into but Apple said no afterwards. Right now Apple would be more likely to let it happen, as they did with Capcom.
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https://x.com/hazzadorgamin/status/1762550641615057199?s=46&t=O_AGT9SEnlptKOF_2SxtqQ
In the word of Halo God, double kill.
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Just more bad news.
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Sheeesh. Double Whammy
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I was thinking something similar. You can’t keep laying off people every year. People will just create their own highly specialized studio and sell their services, so they are not too dependant on big corporations strategies and just negotiate contracts and bail when they are done. I’m not sure what’s better.
Maybe we’ll see more indie studios making smaller games with some highly talented people that are fed up of this system. Actually, it’s already happening.
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Surprised they shut down London Studio before Media Molecule even though it seems like they could be next. I am surprised they cancelled the Twisted Metal game since they have the TV show. Oh well.
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Very sobering news, the internal comms from Hulst just adds more questions, feels like more changes coming.
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LonDon Studio did not produce anything since 2019 and closing them is also an acceptation of the failure that is the ps2vr.
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VR is almost dead on the console front. Sony killed both London Studio and the team behind Horizon Vr. Just this week, Supermassive has fired people after 2 VR games (maybe unrelated ?).
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Think Ubisoft also said AC Nexus would be their last foray into VR for a while didn’t they, until the market was more mature or something?
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With none of their super expensive first party games hitting this year, and another loss leader console revision hitting this fall, expect more losses and layoffs this time next year.
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