It seems to me there is a lot of talk in the news this week about restructuring, closing up shop, etc. All of which leading to layoffs. I understand the industry as a whole is volatile by nature, and it may be I'm hyperbolizing a lot (I made that word up, didnt I?) but it seems to me that at some point its going to get so bad that nobody's going to want to start a new studio. And the studios that remain will end up with more drama such as this. My point, other than being overly reactionary and melodramatic, is to question is this Industry we love and thrive upon really so very flawed? Is there any hope that a system will arise where games are made for enjoyment and *gasp* artistic value, rather than transparent attempts to cash in on rabid fanboyism, flavor-of-the-month movie/toy tie-ins, or nostalgia exploitation?
Phenomena like Minecraft cheer me up, even though I avoid it because it's apparently a huge time-vacuum. And given that consideration, I'm well aware of the casual games trend (though I find the majority to be just as exploitative and cash-inistic as the big releases). And the modding community is fantastic as well. I guess I'm just another voice in the throng calling out for less BS (bullshit AND business school. see what I did there? efficiency, homes.) and more innovation.
What do you guys think?
are any studios *not* closing?
In an industry where one flop (or even one relative success that just happened to cost a crapton to make) can mean the end of your company, yeah, it's pretty messed up. There are just too many people going for the gold and not enough people with the cash or the want to buy so many games every year.
@mosdl said:
Perhaps its because the media never reports when a new studio opens, just when they close.The media does report this sometimes, but it doesn't get as much attention. Hopefully most of the people will find new jobs where they can have successes.
@AndrewB said:
In an industry where one flop (or even one relative success that just happened to cost a crapton to make) can mean the end of your company, yeah, it's pretty messed up. There are just too many people going for the gold and not enough people with the cash or the want to buy so many games every year.That's true but it wasn't always this way. Right now there's a lot of unsustainable games development going on. Not to be anti-consumer but I'm worried now that the way game prices plummet within months and the way consumers want more and more content for less and less money is going to destroy more companies still. I just bought Split / Second for $20 and ordered Splinter Cell Conviction for $20, and those games are only a few months. You could argue that's all those games are worth, but the market isn't big enough to support those prices yet, as far as I see.
I believe that we need to end publishers just like we need to end the record companies. We have indie developers coming out of the wood works making great games and selling real well. The problem is the studios that shut down that still make great games. I can't think of any at this point, but I know they're out there. Blame the publishers for making the wrong decisions. I'm not blaming developers at all.
Every time one place closes the people who worked there break off and make one or two more places. Then in a few years they get bought or repeat the process.
Ok, here's the problem, as much as people want to pretend that games are different, the entertainment industry is about money. They give people what they want because that's what people buy. Look at the music industry it went through an honest period early on to and then gradually there was to much money involved and now we have Hannah Montana, it's a travesty, but there's still good music out there if you look. Same with movies there's the mass market stuff which isn't always that great but there's still some good stuff out there. The fact is mass market games are one part of the industry but there still is a market for gamers with taste as with music and movies and food for that matter, so there will always be "hardcore" or "deep" games out there as long as there are people willing to play them. I don't understand this whole view that somehow the gaming industry is incapable of selling to multiple audiences. Seriously just buy the stuff you like and be done with it, it's a big wide world somebody will be making something for you don't worry.
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