Gamers around the world are going to feel the pain in the 2009 holiday season after the economy shakes apart many great development studios. Electronic Arts feels the pain of being a public company as their investors complain about lackluster revenue, THQ deals with closing studios to extend their runway and other firms will lose more headcount in the coming months.
It’s not all bad. But, it’s going to get ugly before it gets better.
The financial market has played tricks on everyone in our global economy and companies across all industries are going to feel a bit of a tightening around the belt. Investors are shaken and doing their best to protect their investments and cutting loose those that aren’t projecting profits in the near future. Game studios are going to slow their financial burn rates, trim a bit of the fat and hunker down the long term. The end result, next years holiday season will have a few less games because those games are being dropped to the floor now.
Mid-sized studios within larger firms may find their projects canceled or put on hold and their employees re-structured or let go while big studios assess what projects will make the long haul. This is the ugly side of the business, having to make a decision on what games stay and what games go with the grief of having to tell some of your best talent “goodbye.”
The bad part of the industry is occurring today, with publishers posting mediocre profits and trying to convince their investors to be patient and trust they’ve got a firm hold on their destiny. The game industry is not alone in this, many firms are reducing head count and many startups are finding themselves without series A or B funding; they’re closing their doors because the money is being directed to more stable ventures.
What’s the good in all of this?
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Hi guys.
Thanks for this (and the few last) episode(s). I was very busy the last weeks, so i was not able to write a comment. Sorry for that! You deserve listener feedback 🙂
Regarding Telltale: In my opinion this is very unfair to treat the employees like that. I am happy, that something like that is not possible in germany, we got special “insurance” for such a situation. But in addition it is sad, because i liked telltale and the games they made 🙁
To our neighbours in the swiss: this is such a stupid move, and i have read this as well. Your comment, that i dont want to fight for animal right by thrwoing kittys at an animal shelter perfectly describes how stupid this protest action was.
Regaridng the Tetris topic, i played a lot of Lumines and i love the game for it´s simplicity (like Tetris). Such games you are able to play for half an hour and dont have to remember any story or complicated moves. Most of the newer games, you need to know every button on the joypad, have hours of storytelling and complex storylines … i dont judge this, but these games are no games you are able to play for some minutes.
To the question of the week: As already mentioned in the episode, i would love to see another Back to the future Telltame game 🙂 I think i already mentioned it once, but i am a real BTTF fanatic (my right leg is completly tattooed with BTTF).
Last but not least: TJ, congratulations to your wedding! I wish you will have a beatiful marriage and will stay together forever!
Greetings from germany and have a nice week.
Ralf