Here’s the Epic video I mentioned: ruclips.net/video/YvfEyRtdL-A/видео.htmlsi=WVOF8J_V2yLa00Y3 Also wanted to apologize for some poor mic quality lately - finally fixed the crackling, but this video the audio dips in and out (which I didn’t realise until after recording). Should be better next time 🤪.
Clownism and wokism in games are getting bad. This makes me not want to buy those types of games and Bungie is guilty of it. I don't want to see disgusting sewer pipe fetish crap in my games.
@@robertlawrence9000 she loves the industry? the video game industry has been complete and total scum since Nolan Bushnell and Mattel Electronics of the 1970s. Then in the 1980s countless studios reveled in their rape culture. Bungie is garbage. The video game habit is unhealthy leading to epidemic levels of myopia. The more the video game industry shrinks the better off humanity will be. The actual real lives, mental and physical health levels of the "hard core gamers" are a testimony to the garbage scum that is the video game industry. Suicide levels are at record levels... depression is on the rise... The more video games the woman in the video plays the worse her myopia becomes.
I was laid off in September (different company and industry), but i can confirm, it sucks. Idk how many job applications I've submitted since then, trying not to lose hope. Wish me luck on this job interview!
yeah same here bro, got laid off back in June (im not in the gaming industry). Took the summer off and took some online classes while keeping an eye out in my field and its been pretty slim. Plus some of the jobs i;ve applied to had lay offs a few months later (one of them being ubisoft mtl a couple weeks ago) so decided to start my own business instead lol good luck on your job interviews!!
Been laid off since January myself. But been surviving off unemployment and the savings that I had built up from the contractor job that I had prior. Thankfully don't have many bills (Room rent and food, either ignore everything else, or don't have anything else...) so I've been surviving. But just trying to get a entry level software dev job when you see 800 others applying for the same job... it is rough. Tried my hand in the game industry once... got a job for 3 months. They needed a backup programmer for their senior devs. But they didn't have another contract lined up after that so they had to let many employees go and they went into the mobile market. I couldn't find anything again after that for a LONG time. It sucks... So many different skills but a master of none... Keep up the good fight dude... we'll get through this...
I've never been laid off, but I know after I left college even though I had a decent degree, I found it really difficult to get a foot hold in any industry. As I didn't have experience and my degree while being well respected (physics degree) didn't apply directly to many industries. So I know how rough it is putting in job applications and feeling like your getting no where. took me a couple years. For me it was just so difficult as I didn't know what direction I wanted to go in and I was trying to apply to everything and see what stuck and was probably going about it too broadly. But I did eventually find a good opportunity. But I had to get a minimum wage job in the hold over period to keep me going while looking for the job I really wanted. And eventually I did get in with a really good company. And it seems to be going well (4 years in). So I hope you manage to find something. There is still hope a job you enjoy is out there, you just might need to apply for loads of jobs before you find it. I know I definitely started losing hope for a while. But I got there in the end and it makes you appreciate it all the more when you finally get it.
my brother is one of the people you mentioned who uprooted their life to move to Seattle for bungie. he's worked there for a little over a year, and just had a baby last month. he wasn't let go, but members of his team were. he loves the industry so much, and has been in it for over a decade now. still, he came within an inch of being dumped and having his entire life thrown into chaos. there needs to be some sort of introspection on part of the industry. it views its workers as disposable while demanding they work long hours, live in expensive locations, and gives little room for creative freedom. not sustainable. thanks for covering all of this! hopefully things can change.
This is going to sound harsh but I'll say it anyway. A job is just that, a job. They pay you for your services and owe nothing beyond that. A person agrees to trade their skill/knowledge for "x" amount of compensation. If they uproot their life, love the job, put their hart and sole, etc. into it, they do that for themselves. A company exists to make a profit not to be the caretaker of it's employees. I think this is a generational thing with younger generations feeling that their company is like their parents in some ways and it simply is not so. Take your skills and knowledge and move on to someone else.
@@vikashv1 Not necessarily. In the '80's-early '90s, I worked in an industry hit by the military budget cuts of the time. I was specialized and therefore expensive. I was hired when the company received the contract was let go when I finished the job, they could not afford to keep me waiting to see if they would get another contract or not. I'm old but I moved around more than most of the "kids" today do. I finally changed careers to get out of the cycle. I don't believe that moving around was the OP's subject of intent.
I will never understand how these CEOs can fire hundreds of people and destroy their livelihoods while still collecting their million dollar paycheck and still sleep at night. The audacity to make a twitter post praising the layed off devs is insane. The amount of money these games make compared to how much the devs make is criminal.
If you keep asking the right questions you will find your answers. One day youll put the pieces together and it will make sense. Thinking that ceos were raised with morals like you and I is the first mistake. You need to understand that some families especiallu those in positions of power, raise their young to further the family enterprise or just raised with the wrong priorities. 8n some power circles niceness is considered a weakness. They are ass backwards and not human beings.
Sociopathy and Psychopathy are far more highly represented than the statistical average in leadership positions. That's how, they litterally do not think of those people as humans.
I know it is never going to happen but I would really like to see companies like this be a little more introspective about management decisions that led to falling revenues. The guy that comes in every day to create textures or network code are not the ones that are responsible for missing revenue targets. It's the idiots in charge that think they can make a live service game keep growing over a 10 year life cycle.
To be honest, that won't happen. Upper and C-suite management will keep certain managers in place, because they know the industry, they know the market, they know the inside out of the company. Meaning, replacing them would potentially cost more than keeping them.
@@BruceKarrde Employing executives that think that they can keep a live service first person shooter going and growing and hitting massive revenue targets for 8+ years is definitely not saving them money over time. Bungie should have had Destiny 3 out in 2021 or 2022 at the very latest instead of trying to milk this dying cow of a game. It's not like this is just one of many egg's in Bungie's basket. It is their only product and trying to keep it going is crazy. Destiny 2 is utterly impenetrable to try to come back to as a hiatus. That isn't the poor fucking community manager's or the music composer's or the 3D modeler guy's fault.
I feel the industry is completely broken and there needs to be major reform in corporate leadership across the board. It honestly feels like asset-stripping at this point, making as much cash as they can in the short term, while causing huge long term damage that none of these execs will stay around to deal with.
This is happening across creative industries. So many sites I’ve enjoyed reading for years are effectively defunct. The behavior sucks and is abhorrent, for sure.
Asking Capitalism not to be Capitalism under a pro-Capitalist, Neo-Liberal government structure....I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the Myth of Sisyphus.
Legal embezzlement is the executive meta of modern America. Cut deep while milking customers as much as possible while taking home huge bonuses. Walk away rich after the company is driven into the ground.
Imo "Reforming Corporate Leadership" won't solve anything. Will simply kick the can down the road until the new leadership is facing the same exact pressures. Personally I think the solution for the future is just to stop supporting these larger publishers, and give your money to independent studios to help promote their growth. I look at it in a similar way to trying to "buy local" rather than getting everything at Walmart or something.
What made the Bungie layoffs a bitter pill to swallow was how some of them were veteran's of the Studio and were there from the very beginning only to be shoved aside like their commitment to Bungie didn't matter. I hope Pete Parsons knows how badly he screwed up,thats all I'll say because being a fan of Bungie for this long this news is still pretty fresh.
I don't love Nintendo. But we took Iwata for granted, the man cut his own salary to save other people's jobs, and he's the standard all CEOs should be held to.
On the marketing side for 10 years, entirely with one company. But I've "survived" 6 major layoffs that effected those around me. There's also a huge negative impact on those that remain, and that's honestly something that can never really be quantified in output.
This is not only a problem in the games industry ... It's a trend in all the sectors of the economy.., records highs and if there's only a ripple people are out meanwhile CEO's and shareholders always get there money no matter what.... There's something really wrong...
Welcome to corporations and C-level incentivized behavior. They do this because their C-Level bonuses are dependent on hitting numbers. They don't care about the people or the company or the long-term viability of either. C-Level compensation is NOT tied to keeping a company or product or employees healthy and viable for a long time -- it's all about short term maximized gains (money). Best said in Alien: "All other priorities rescinded, crew expendable."
@@charalanahzardIt is kind of like the life cycle of industrialized era, late capitalism, has been happening in the last 2 centuries: Arts/Inventions/Technology -> First steps, experimenting and expansion, objetive: none specific, it could be learn, explore, create, etc. -> "Golden era" of those things (Mass appeal) -> Higher economic social classes paying attention -> The arrival of those higher social classes with lots of economic capital into those things (tech, arts, etc. Apply to any industry) New objective: Infinite economic growth at any cost (in other words: greed and impossible expectations) -> Industrializing the artistical and humane process, making more in less time but also with less quality and appeal -> Decadence of the industry (not meeting the economic expectations of the higher class) -> Layoffs, hard working conditions, and unemployment -> Unions -> Corruption -> Social movements -> New social and labour policies (in the best scenario, worst scenario is armed movements). Repeat in any emerging industry, the games industry, in some companies, is at the unionizing stage, only those companies that still hold the first stage and objectives guiding their actions are capable of pushing the boundaries of the games industry. I don't know, I'm missing more steps but overall it's kind of what has been happening in a lot of industries, they (corporates) kill creative work of the developers replacing it with productive work, like rushing Da Vinci to paint Mona Lisas in a day because they need more of his art to sell it and profit off of it as fast as they can. Marty O'Donell has an amazing talk about this on his channel the video is called "Be nice to the goose" you should check it out :D
Thank you for your well-informed, passionate response. It's truly heartbreaking and criminal that these highly paid execs can make horrible decisions and not suffer any consequences. Instead, they callously fire the very people that are devoted to making the best experience for the players. It's a hollow gesture that some of the execs cut their bonuses in response to the missed projections. Why are they still receiving bonuses while they gut their studio for their own terrible decisions. Fucking, unreal.
I recently watched an interview with Steve Jobs, and there's a great moment where he talks about how the great "product people" get rotted out of a company when product improvements don't move the company forward as much as sales and marketing, and so "sales and marketing people" get promoteed, making decisions that have nothing to do with the core products that brought them to the current position.
Words to live by from the late great Michael brooks “be compassionate to individuals, be ruthless to systems” my hearts with all affected by layoffs and the disheartening reality of the industry that’s solely built and maintained by extremely passionate people can only be combatted with collective action. We’re in an incredibly important time with how much labor movement has been happening throughout not only the US but the world: SAG-AFSTRA, the UAW, WGA, nurses, teachers, even non full-time salaried workers fighting for their rights to do what they love to do while also making a realistic livable wage and having job security. Every single person that reads this deserves that and we can only be heard when we’re fighting for it together. Thank you for speaking on these incredibly important topics despite it being a somber note, I’ve felt you’ve always been a perfect ambassador for the gaming culture since seeing you on ign, so many years laters and you’re still the undisputed goat❤️
I've worked in the tech industry for over a decade and this is definitely a common trend. Upper management tends to make terrible decisions to try to boost short term profits which tends to backfire then shit rolls downhill and the people who had nothing to do with the decisions tend to pay for it. Meanwhile those same managers consolidate more descision making power and give themselves raises for being such good business people. This is definitely more pronounced in the game industry since so many people are putting everythign into games. I remember raiding in a game with someone who worked in the games industry. He ended up dropping the raid becaue of the emotional and mental breakdowns he was having from the number fo hours he was putting in, the lack of social life he was able to have, and just life in general. It's a sad state of affairs becasue if anything the community needs to support hte devs more than anyone.
Well said. Executives need to take responsibility when they steer the ship into stormy waters, not blame it on the crew. Some high level pay cuts would show good faith rather than sentimental tweets.
I feel terrible for all the bungie devs that got laid off, but thank you for highlighting Liana specifically. Her thread was unfortunately how I found out about the layoffs and I was shocked that she was among them. After dmg left, she became the main voice I looked for from the community team and I always appreciated her passion for the game. The layoffs with the community team hit me the most in general because I know the amount of toxicity and threats they've been put through over the last few years and they have quite literally been on the frontline for the declining player sentiment and they really have no control themselves over the things players are upset about. To see them laid off after all this seems like such a slap in the face to me, and I'm sure that's how it feels to them.
I am a member of the WGA, and I just cannot express how much my heart aches for your industry. I’ve loved games my whole life, but knowing how devs are consistently treated industry-wide makes me sick to my stomach whenever I sit down to play. I truly truly hope that you can unionize as soon as possible. Being part of a strike this year, while painful, was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. We shouldn’t have to fight for what we deserve-but when we fight, we win. You have my sword. Always. ✊🏾
I'm going to be honest though, as someone who is in the industry and I've voiced this opinion before at work even, I think a lot of companies have too many employees, to an extent where it doesn't make sense. I'm pretty sure there are people at every major gaming company that has people that almost do nothing of value. I know this sounds harsh but I legit think this is the case for 90% of places. I'm not talking about indie companies, for people who is reading this. I'm talking about the major players in the industry. I'm not surprised people are getting laid off because having people who do next to nothing is a loss (I've seen this at the two major places I've worked at, that there are people who just waltz around during development, I was never sure about what they were doing).
Interest rates went up on corporate loans. The cost of labor is increasing. Companies across gaming and tech massively over hired over the last decade. It’s been meme on places like TikTok for years that there are people in companies like google who essentially do nothing. That’s having to change now. The rivers of cash are drying up and people are going to have to justify their jobs. Im sure it’s incredibly stressful and it can seem unfair but may be necessary to trim budgets even if the company appears successful.
You can get laid off even if you are part of a Union. If a company can show you that you are a loss for them in terms of money you can still get fired easily. The company can still have A TON of money, but different people bring in different amounts of money for the company and again, if you are on the lower end your job is never safe. They are not forced to have people stay who are a loss for them. That would be even crazier if that was a thing, no one would ever have the balls to hire anyone.
@@SuperJJParker I'm open minded and encourage the addition of any exceptions! After all, I made a comment that was an over simplification. Feel free to include anything that might make people more aware of the truth.
I studied game development for 3 years and absolutely loved it, but one of the main reasons i didn't carry on with it was because every company makes cuts every few years, getting to know a few people in the industry they moved from place to place every few years and this lifestyle just didn't suit mine. The crunch is real, the pay isn't great, it isn't bad but the amount of hours you put in just isn't worth it, more so when you're starting off for fair reasons but still.
One of those laid off employees I am friends with, we were coworkers at a company before she went to Bungie. When we parted ways for jobs she stayed in gaming industry (going to Bungie) and I went into tech (leaving the games industry). I got really tired of the crazy hours, lower pay, and surprise layoffs that the gaming industry does. Even here I was shocked when she was part of the layoffs, that company (Bungie) is really going to suffer long-term for all this lost talent and moral killer its started. Sure, no doubt tech sector can be just as frustrating depending on the company you go with but I found a real winner where I get paid 4x what the game industry would pay me, its a full time salary position with stock options, and no overtime/no extra working hours. I love gaming but realize its better to be just a fan of games than deal with that industry anymore, its not as reliable as it should be to its workers.
This sucks. Unfortunately this is happening everywhere in all industries. Paying my mortgage is always a concern even with a decent wage as I’m fully aware if I can’t pay it I loose everything 😔
Hey Alanah, I'm working in another video game giant and we all worried about our jobs in my team right now, all seniors, and even working on a game that is a money printing machine. The times are scary !
Creative jobs are truely underseige right now, seeing the shelving of Coyote vs acme shelved, and the Dreamworks Co-founder practically salivating at using AI to reduce the number of animator jobs. And then all the stuff in the games industry is rough as heck man.
How it often works is apply pressure to devs until they burn out, then fire them for lack of performance. Devs apply pressure to the suits then get layed off for speaking up. Execs get the enormous paycheck but can't stand the responsibility nor criticism of their position.
Layoff was bound to hit the games industry given the current tech layoffs. Right now the economy is in a downturn meaning no industry is going to be immune. Even the music industry is getting hit by layoffs though these jobs that are being loss are executive positions.
The problem with this mentality is that if a game is bad, the devs still deserve the blame. They are the ones actually working on it. No, we shouldn’t treat people in this industry with kids gloves. This doesn’t mean the executives get no blame, but devs are just as much of a reason. That said, executive pay should be cut before layoffs but this is a problem across all industries.
I'm with the Carpenters union in NJ/NY, and I love my job. Layoffs are part of the work. Huge multi-year projects ramp up and then ramp down (much as videogame projects do). We never expect to be employed indefinitely, and sometimes layoffs are more unexpected than others. This is pretty normal in a lot of industries. I personally don't feel that a company owes me employment because I'm a good, passionate worker. It's a mutually beneficial one-to-one transactional relationship at the end of the day where we both are getting what we want/need out of the situation. That being said, some of the relationships that we build sometimes are great, real, and lasting, and the separation blows...but I chose this...to be an employee. It's not personal. It's business. People take this stuff way too personally and to heart. 🤷♂️ And I am aware that I say this behind the security of the union that I'm a part of, but I felt the same way when I was freelance as well.
I feel there are a few major points to be addressed to help keep good AAA games & jobs. 1. The need for continuous profit growth YOY, profit alone isn't good enough, publishers need more each year. 2. The game dev cycles needs to be brought back down to a realistic 2-4 years. These massive 6-8 year cycles mean every games costs an insane amount and everything is riding on it's success. 3. Gamers need to stop being cunts and accept that with a 2-4 year cycle a game isn't going to look photo-realistic, it's going to look great, not insane.
I saw a headline that Modern Warfare 3 got made in 16 months. This is their cash cow and they rush it. It’s crunch from the word “go”. Developers at some of these big publishers get treated like garbage. The CEOs gotta get their bonuses and the analysts watching the stock price have to be pleased that the yearly money maker is released on time.
As a junior looking for a job all I see for job postings are senior, lead, and director positions. I've only ever seen one junior position that still required 2 - 3 years experience. Seeing these jobs openings and the experience necessary for a JUNIOR position along with the news of the mass layoffs has made me reconsider joining the gaming industry. Which sucks because I understand the passion to create something people would love and be fondly remembered for years.
I wish someone would articulate better the functional ways in which unions would affect layoffs. The working conditions thing is pretty straightforward but "give a voice to" means nothing to me. What kind of contractual agreements are even possible that would actually protect against layoffs? I can see how you could pre negotiate things like severance maybe create an additional cost to the company that might dissuade the company to lay people off, but I can't see a world where a company is made incapable of cost cutting. I'd also be weary of horror stories from other unions that make individual firings difficult including to both poor performers and worse, toxic employees.
A former software dev / web dev here, you're right on the mark. In general, working condition improvements and unionisation is a must in the software and tech industry. Other industries which have unionisation have caused Managers to operate more carefully and alongside other things this has the benefit of improving Management accountability and decision quality (because bad managers cause fights with the union). There are so many cases where bad management in tech is behind poor performance that it amazes me to hear Corporates or HR types still speak like unions are unnecessary or an evil. Also, the repeated employment crunches I've seen over the decade, in the general tech industry, can make it harder for juniors to onboard into first roles and harder for all to fight for better salaries and conditions, with effects like ridiculous demands within job applications and a continuous shortage of Seniors, and harder to fight for good conditions when there's a high supply / lower demand during the crunch time (outside of unions).
I used to play Destiny (both 1 and 2) on a regular basis. I drifted away because I was not happy with the direction it seemed to be going in. I was never unhappy with the dev's but rather with the policy setting suits. It's really a shame that we don't live in a world where we keep the workforce and lay off the policy makers who cause these problems. Good vid
@@Raijin-RyuX24 There were several things but the biggest was the continual expansion of microtransactions. When they first left ABK most of us (well, me and my friends tbh) cheered. We really thought that all the money grabbing and greed were from ABK, especially since they are the very worst for this kind of greed. Or were, at least; time will tell if they change under Xbox. It soon became apparent that Bungie themselves (again, the suits, not the dev's) were just as guilty as the parent publisher. Quite a few of us moved on in the ensuing months. A shame really; I still miss those days. Take care
most of the micro-transactions are for cosmetics though. I do think items like the dungeon key should be included with the season pass. I do think cosmetics are a bit overpriced. But as long as people keep buying that stuff they’ll keep added it.
@@Raijin-RyuX24 These things bring constantly in your face detract from the game experience. It got much worse from 1 to 2. If you want these types of storefronts to continue to thrive than by all means leave them alone. For me, they ruin the game experience and I will not continue to frequent games where they are constantly on display. Take care
Facts!!!! I left the gaming industry after 6 years of being there. When I see the comments being made, even from my own alliance members in games i play, I take it personally and get heated about it.
Well said. What a lot of people dont understand (until it affects them) is that in every industry and in every case where layoffs occur or a company closes is that there absolutely were people on every level below executive leadership telling that leadership about the problems that these out of touch rich people ignore, thinking that they know better. For every GTA Online where someone made the decision to lean in on microtransactions there are dozens of other live service games that died taking that same approach.
It's a great thing the Game Awards nominated Destiny 2 as *"Best Community Support."* It's no wonder why people are starting to question the decision of these so called judges...? *Halo Infinite* deserved that title hands down, and should've also been in *"Best Ongoing Game."*
Two weeks before Thanksgiving (USA). Just starting the Holiday season. I know it doesn't mean much to those now looking for a new job, but my heart goes out to you. I've been there and it's so disheartening.
The layoff timeframe is especially egregious. They made sure to do it the day before their stock shares from the deal would vest. So they not only lost their job but also those shares. They need to sue the hell out of Sony and Bungie, that is basically fraudulent.
I always appreciate your view, because you’re able to balance an insiders insight with your personal love and passion for games and the gaming industry. A nuanced take is rare these days. Thanks.
it's important when you mention how "many of these people moved cities for that job", because it's the kind of realization that can help people understand why the "the owners are the risk-takers" argument is bs when we talk about the economy. taking up a job is a huge risk and requires trusting the employer. yet those risks are not rewarded as they are with shareholders.
Thank you sooo so very much for making this video. Gamer and Dev here and im just feeling very beat down by whats happening. We need changes. so badly. and these changes will positively effect the games and gamers too.
Very basically, people fundamentally lack class consciousness. Consumers and workers are almost always aligned in their class interests. However, there’s been a highly effective cultural push to obfuscate the reality that it’s us vs the suits. It always has been.
It's one thing to lay a group of people off to reorganize, but to do so over the failures created by a studio head or company exec/ceo is absolutely abysmal. This happened with Halo Infinite not longer after Season 1 or 2 dropped. Bonnie Ross, Frank O'connor, and Kiki Wolfkill ultimately created a ton of issues that led to the developers quitting from stress or being let go later on down the road when Pierre Hientz took over to reorganize the company. All of that could've been avoided however. But it isn't just happening with 343 Industries and Halo, it's happening with Bungie, EA, CDPR, Epic, and so many more. Like was said above, people don't join game studios and work on games to make money, they do it because they care about the universe that they're developing. All that love that goes into the environments, the gameplay, sound effects, characters, models, story...it all is a labor of love that takes months or years to put together carefully, only to be shit on by a awful studio head or CEO who has no care for the state or quality of the games being released. If you are the owner of a game studio, your first and foremost important concerns should be your employees and what they feel, and then the product being released to the public, as both are tied to your success ultimately. If a developer is begging for their voice to be heard about something going on behind the scenes and they're being silenced or fired for it, that should be a HUGE red flag. These developers have EVERY right across the industry to unionize, to speak up, to do something about what's going on behind closed doors in the industry. All the CEOs and Studio heads care about anymore is filling their pockets, not the customers or their own employees, and it's so obvious to see. Imagine if a company can unionize and halt the release timeframe of a game to ensure it released bug free, with all the content and features promised and shown off, stress free, no burn out, or worries of their employment being unreasonably terminated. The writers strike showed what could happen and many of them got far better care post-strike. The same needs to happen for the gaming industry. Imagine what could've been of Cyberpunk 2077 if the game was given more time, or Destiny, Halo, Battlefield...Battlefront II. So many things could've been different. People need to start speaking up and create a voice for the gaming industry, or more and more big titles and companies are gonna collapse and sink.
Respawn is my pick for best shooter mechanics Also destiny 2 is not free to play lol, if i want to come back as returning gamer it would cost me 134 dollars to come back. That ain’t free lol
Layoffs are corrections. They arent right or wrong. You are not owed your job tomorrow. If people can recognize that, as businesses know that you may just walk away tomorrow as well and there is nothing they can do about it. Fair is fair there.
It’s a looter shooter. Of course it’s super grindy. I agree about the vault though. A couple things make sense because of story but not being able to play old content we paid for is uncool.
@@Raijin-RyuX24 my issue with the way they handle the story is that it's for everyone. Most games handle the story like each person is unique. So in destiny, if I haven't killed a raid boss, but others have, the game says he's dead. At least, that's my understanding.
@@WhySolSirius you mean like when the story moves forward in the next expansion and the raid boss is dead but you, the player that is still playing two expansions back haven’t reached that point yet? I think I understand. No one wants story spoiled for them. I don’t like when a new expansion released and you’re automatically throne into the new story intro quest when you log on. This is confusing if you’re a player that’s catching up. But I also understand the devs are expecting majority of its player base to be current in the story.
I find a lot of the problems often come from executives insulating themselves from consequences, and more often than not its business people only at the top who are just concerned only about quarterly profits rather than including opinions from the creatives. Its been a bad trend for a lot of creative industries that this happens and it makes everything worse
The problem is with the product, in the old days when you bought a game, you bought a whole game, with destiny they thought they invented a cash cow, sooner or later the consumer will get bored with these antics and they will go somewhere else....
I love love love how Alanah always brings the true down to earth perspective. I learned and only realised that executives are the problem from Alanah and now many youtubers are also saying it. Alanah you're so fantastic for these videos!
It's rough, it feels like consumers are set against the corps for a long time now, and it's manifesting in sad ways for the people who do bust their asses on game dev. There's also the situation with the Dragon Age devs who got laid off, but were under a strict NDA so they couldn't show off a portfolio of work they were putting into Dread Wolf. Corp is a huge issue, and being beholden to ROI instead of art or fun is really the seedy issue here.
I think it hurts a lot of people because a lot of people in tech and games both have an idealistic and optimistic mindset which is not (and it could be argued can not) be shared by their management and their publishers. It is the modern problem of creatives (art, programming and the like) versus the middlemen (management, bookkeepers and c-suite). The middle-men need the creatives to do the work. The creatives are passionate about the work so they pour everything in there. The middlemen reap the benefits often (with clear exceptions with tech. management) getting the highest pay and to make the decisions and when management decisions impact the product it is the creatives that are shocked when they are the primary thing out the door. The idealism often shares a mental connection with empathy and thus it saddens, angers and bothers people when these things happen, because you are left behind with the feeling that the ones who do the actual work, the creators are the ones who end up being punished (fired) for things beyond their control. The thing they had focused on and worked towards disappears. For the individual it can feel like a loss and can lead to sorrow on top of the stress of the lost job (a worse thing in the US than in some other places with less social security nets). And for observers it is bitter as well. Those still invested in the game company or game as a fan can feel the exact same worry especially withe live service games where people have communities, friendships and experiences that cannot be easily transferred or replicated. I am for example a GM for table-top RPG and on occasion one of my campaigns crumbles and ends early. That is a sad event and to me a small glance into how it would feel to worry about a live service disappearing or a game company failing (I for example felt something akin to a small loss of faith in Bioware after playing first Mass Effect 3 and then later Mass Effect Andromeda and since I will not buy their games on launch but will wait a while for serious post-launch reviews before I touch their games now). So to round up I understand why there are feelings at play here for the people outside the industry (led by trolling but also by worry about time and social currency invested) and I understand Alanah's worry about the industry, but it is in the nature of non-highly regulated markets to consolidate to monopoly and monoculture (AAA games and publishing) or boom and bust.
Thanks for his video, miss. You actually put on words some of my nebolous thoughts about this situation and helped me to better understand few things I was actually missing. I really appreciated it.
I came from D1 and was there on day one for D2. What stuck in my craw was the notion that PAID content would be removed from the game due to the crazy claim that the game engine could not support it, when in fact D2 is an instanced based game engine. Then, each subsequent season introduced more and more monetization including requiring players to PAY for access to Legendary items a SECOND time; or items that were NOT included in the Season Pass that could only be acquired by spending MORE money. I said aloud in my best Palpatine voice, "Yes... yes... the greed is strong with this one... eh eh eh eh ehhhh." Then Lightfall came out (which I pre-ordered and NEVER played) due to abysmal reviews; well, that pretty much put a nail in the coffin for my D2 adventuring days.
Pay for access to legendary items a second time? What are you talking about? Most of the hate I’ve seen about Lightfall was regarding the story not being as good as the one before. But the activities, new subclass and such were good. In fact, that subclass is the best in game right now. The seasonal model is a bit meh and the drip fed seasonal story can feel lame.
As someone who works in the tech industry as a PM and who loves video games.. I will never work on video games. Even tho the tech industry has faced 300k layoffs this year, our payouts are wayy higher and it’s easier to find work.
Ex-Destiny 1 and 2 player here. People hating on devs are a sad example of how selfish our societies have become. "What have you done for me lately?" has replaced common human care and decency. And that's remarkably similar to the approach AAA management have to game design - it seems very clear they're telling devs what to make and how to make it, with the instructions being to focus on what will make every last dollar possible. This in turn drives long-term players away. I quit playing Destiny when I realised just how manipulative the RNG and FOMO-based activity schedule had become, meanwhile the core activities (strikes and crucible) had become absolute jokes due to way that player abilities were being constantly re-jigged and empowered. And I agree the shooting mechanics of Destiny are probably the best (or close to best) to be found in an FPS game...but being good (and accurate) with your firearm has become barely important as players exploit metas that are created in the first place to attract and keep casuals (who apparently aren't even staying anyway). Bungie could have been happy with a very good sized fan base, without free-to-play players being enticed into the microtransaction economy...but the CEO etc decided to go for maximum financial return...and that will always see quality being thrown under the bus.
As James/Steph Sterling used to often say; these companies don't want more of the money, they want *all* of the money... Nothing will ever be enough in an economic culture/system that's braindead enough to think 'continual growth' is feasible. I hope this era is when people in general wake up to the reality that capitalism is corroding everything in life right now (figuratively and literally). Globalist capitalism is hurting everyone - left, centre, or right of the political spectrum.
You just published the most balanced summary of "What Happened at Bungie/Destiny". The dedicated Destiny content creators couldn't touch this. Too much anger - too much rush to publish. Thank You
I work in the mobile gaming market and our company has had 3 layoffs in the last 2-3 years (it all blends together when it comes to timeframes). I know we have been worried about additional layoffs here but "reassured" that there won't be any more this year. Hopefully, things get better. I would love to see more Unions in the industry. So many of the problems can be boiled down to leadership making poor decisions. The mobile market is only going to get worse with a flood of cheap, quick-to-market, games that only serve as a revenue source for bigger projects.
my thing is, i feel like if people are not playing your game dont you blame the people in charge? the people making the decisions to pull the trigger on ideas that fall flat or dont work, those are the ones who need to be downsized/replaced!!!!!
As someone who's got a MA/BA & a bunch of other game related qualifications I feel so disregarded by the games industry. I spent 2 years trying to get a job & got nowhere but was consistently told by recruiters "you're a perfect fit, your work is great" then not getting the job. I've had my work seen, played & praised by studio heads & level design leads & told that my work is great but I still was never able to land a actual entry level job. When cost of living started to hit hard I had to give up applying for game industry jobs so I could find a more 'conventional job'. Its now been 6 months & the only news I've seen is how there's another round of lay offs or people being sacked just after they've formed a union or having their severance pay capped or health care taken away. But companies are STILL recording record profits. Why would I ever subject myself to a industry that has repeatedly in the last 10 -15 years shown me that they do not care about their staff, think high turn over rates are somehow a good thing & want to repeatedly nickel & dime people just to cut corners to meet a earnings report?? If places like bungie are wanting to sack tenured staff members with 20+ yr histories because they're 'not the right people' how the hell do I stand a chance at having any job security? I'd be terrified worrying when I'm gonna get sacked! Ngl the industry atm is so unappealing to me from the AI news from Microsoft to the constant layoffs, price increases & buzzwords like AAAA/ Super games coming out idk; the industry has so much bloat I don't think its ever gonna change now. Games used to make me happy, I don't think they do anymore.
Totally different industry, but DC Comics cuts were assistants, gophers, excess editors. No one deserves to be fired. People don't realize how long it takes to find a new job today.
I don't remember if you've talked about games media, but the story from the mass resignation at The Escapist is an interesting one I'd be curious to see you cover. I've been a fan of Yahtzee and Zero Punctuation for well over a decade.
I joined the Destiny journey, thanks to someone dear to me. The Taken King was my first foray into the vast universe. With 2, I kept going throughout as well. With the current run Lightfall, and season. It has been rough. I took a break for awhile. I feel for the entire Bungie team. Crafting this amazing series, world building, atmosphere, and music. There is nothing else quite like it.
Isn't it funny how Sony who owns Bungie (and it was their decision to cull staff) are sitting quietly in the background letting Bungie take all the heat for this.
Regarding any employer/employee good practices or relations…it’s not hard it’s just not done well 99% of the time. Enable workers to do their best. Provide training, provide support, provide goals. Provide the methods and resources to produce what is wanted. Engage with each side. Communicate both good and bad. Hopefully the result is a product enough people want to make a profit…
Us gamers need to form some sort of collective (like a union) to fight back at the corpos! I would hope that the devs could move to some other Sony studios?
I work local paper mill near me for now. Been there for 5 years n was planning on retiring from there. Back in October, they announced that they're shutting down the mill in December. 500 jobs in the wind. N funny thing was that we got bonus for profit. We we're im the green compared to anywhere else. I'm just waiting on my notice to be kicked out now.
I've been laid off 5 times in my career since 2010. It doesn't matter how well/bad you do, companies have no loyalty. It's just sickening. I've been without a FT job for 10 months this time around. Companies don't respond to resumes either with almost 0 professionalism when they do. So, don't give your loyalty. Look out for yourself and stay safe out there.
If the game developers are the ones advocating for the players, then a developers union needs a seat on the board of directors. This would serve as a balance to directors who put a priority on making money.
Capcom seems like they're already going into the mobile market with its recent Resident Evil VIII on iPhones and Resident Evil 4 coming in like a month or so.
Yeah but that's not what people mean when they say games suck. Most of us aren't rocking a 3k $ pc. When they sacrifice fps for dynamic shadows that kinda sucks. When they replace a game single player game mode with one that's not, that kinda sucks for single player gamers. Like ye it's fine I'll play another game, but like I was looking forward to something that didn't come to fruition. People understand it's not the devs soooo
As a long time Destiny fan(been in love with it since Bungie announced it)I will be leaving the franchise after The Final Shape because I want to see this 10yr journey to its end. After that thought I can't support Bungie(more so the higher ups)after all of this, it breaks my heart to remove myself from a world I love so much but I think it's sadly the only way to make a change to a studio(again the higher ups)that has been industry leading for decades for the better. I hope things inside Bungie improve for the sake of everything especially the pope on the floor putting their heart and soul into making what is such a great game possible. ❤❤❤
As someone who was recently fired for a bullshit reason, because I could be replaced by a cheaper option, and in the near future replaced by a computer, it sucks ass being fired.
I cannot explain why, but when I watch Alanah it kinda feels like sitting down with your favorite cousin and listening to her talk about what's going on in her field.
As an aside I can't believe how much CDPR stock was inflated in the lead up to CB2077 coming out and then how much it's dropped now, it's crazy to think that between 2015 and 2020 the value went up by over 20 times and since then has lost over 3 quarters of it's value and it's definitely made everything worse for them cus I bet their costs ballooned to insane levels during that period all based on an oberinflated stock price - which lets be honest was always unrealistic, I don't know if the traders are to blame for that or what but anyone who thought that was a sutainable price and a realistic evaluation would have to have been on crack, and when you lose that much value in such a short space of time management aren't going to have any pull against the money people
Paul Tassi released a tweet or article that said that the cuts came down from Sony, but it was on Bungie leadership to decide what to cut and instead of cutting their salaries (like Nintendo did) they did lay-offs. honestly, as a huge Destiny 2 fan, this was a massive gut punch and it sucks. i just hope now, they can do something great with who they have left.
Here’s the Epic video I mentioned: ruclips.net/video/YvfEyRtdL-A/видео.htmlsi=WVOF8J_V2yLa00Y3
Also wanted to apologize for some poor mic quality lately - finally fixed the crackling, but this video the audio dips in and out (which I didn’t realise until after recording). Should be better next time 🤪.
Clownism and wokism in games are getting bad. This makes me not want to buy those types of games and Bungie is guilty of it. I don't want to see disgusting sewer pipe fetish crap in my games.
@@robertlawrence9000 she loves the industry? the video game industry has been complete and total scum since Nolan Bushnell and Mattel Electronics of the 1970s. Then in the 1980s countless studios reveled in their rape culture. Bungie is garbage. The video game habit is unhealthy leading to epidemic levels of myopia. The more the video game industry shrinks the better off humanity will be. The actual real lives, mental and physical health levels of the "hard core gamers" are a testimony to the garbage scum that is the video game industry. Suicide levels are at record levels... depression is on the rise...
The more video games the woman in the video plays the worse her myopia becomes.
I was laid off in September (different company and industry), but i can confirm, it sucks. Idk how many job applications I've submitted since then, trying not to lose hope. Wish me luck on this job interview!
What do you do? Artist, programmer?
yeah same here bro, got laid off back in June (im not in the gaming industry). Took the summer off and took some online classes while keeping an eye out in my field and its been pretty slim. Plus some of the jobs i;ve applied to had lay offs a few months later (one of them being ubisoft mtl a couple weeks ago) so decided to start my own business instead lol
good luck on your job interviews!!
Good luck! Stay positive
Been laid off since January myself. But been surviving off unemployment and the savings that I had built up from the contractor job that I had prior. Thankfully don't have many bills (Room rent and food, either ignore everything else, or don't have anything else...) so I've been surviving. But just trying to get a entry level software dev job when you see 800 others applying for the same job... it is rough.
Tried my hand in the game industry once... got a job for 3 months. They needed a backup programmer for their senior devs. But they didn't have another contract lined up after that so they had to let many employees go and they went into the mobile market. I couldn't find anything again after that for a LONG time. It sucks... So many different skills but a master of none...
Keep up the good fight dude... we'll get through this...
I've never been laid off, but I know after I left college even though I had a decent degree, I found it really difficult to get a foot hold in any industry. As I didn't have experience and my degree while being well respected (physics degree) didn't apply directly to many industries.
So I know how rough it is putting in job applications and feeling like your getting no where. took me a couple years. For me it was just so difficult as I didn't know what direction I wanted to go in and I was trying to apply to everything and see what stuck and was probably going about it too broadly.
But I did eventually find a good opportunity. But I had to get a minimum wage job in the hold over period to keep me going while looking for the job I really wanted. And eventually I did get in with a really good company. And it seems to be going well (4 years in). So I hope you manage to find something. There is still hope a job you enjoy is out there, you just might need to apply for loads of jobs before you find it. I know I definitely started losing hope for a while. But I got there in the end and it makes you appreciate it all the more when you finally get it.
my brother is one of the people you mentioned who uprooted their life to move to Seattle for bungie. he's worked there for a little over a year, and just had a baby last month. he wasn't let go, but members of his team were. he loves the industry so much, and has been in it for over a decade now. still, he came within an inch of being dumped and having his entire life thrown into chaos.
there needs to be some sort of introspection on part of the industry. it views its workers as disposable while demanding they work long hours, live in expensive locations, and gives little room for creative freedom. not sustainable. thanks for covering all of this! hopefully things can change.
Contracts would help
This is going to sound harsh but I'll say it anyway. A job is just that, a job. They pay you for your services and owe nothing beyond that. A person agrees to trade their skill/knowledge for "x" amount of compensation. If they uproot their life, love the job, put their hart and sole, etc. into it, they do that for themselves. A company exists to make a profit not to be the caretaker of it's employees. I think this is a generational thing with younger generations feeling that their company is like their parents in some ways and it simply is not so. Take your skills and knowledge and move on to someone else.
My father and grand grandfather here company men, lifers people switching jobs all the time is a late gen x/millennial phenomenon.
@@vikashv1 Not necessarily. In the '80's-early '90s, I worked in an industry hit by the military budget cuts of the time. I was specialized and therefore expensive. I was hired when the company received the contract was let go when I finished the job, they could not afford to keep me waiting to see if they would get another contract or not. I'm old but I moved around more than most of the "kids" today do. I finally changed careers to get out of the cycle. I don't believe that moving around was the OP's subject of intent.
Source: My big bro works at bungie.
I will never understand how these CEOs can fire hundreds of people and destroy their livelihoods while still collecting their million dollar paycheck and still sleep at night. The audacity to make a twitter post praising the layed off devs is insane. The amount of money these games make compared to how much the devs make is criminal.
What’s worse is they will fire all those people and then give themselves a massive performance bonus.
If you keep asking the right questions you will find your answers.
One day youll put the pieces together and it will make sense.
Thinking that ceos were raised with morals like you and I is the first mistake. You need to understand that some families especiallu those in positions of power, raise their young to further the family enterprise or just raised with the wrong priorities.
8n some power circles niceness is considered a weakness.
They are ass backwards and not human beings.
@@prototype8137Of course, everything you said is nonsense.
Sociopathy and Psychopathy are far more highly represented than the statistical average in leadership positions. That's how, they litterally do not think of those people as humans.
@@DannyBowen25 No, it's not nonsense. It's fairly accurate.
I know it is never going to happen but I would really like to see companies like this be a little more introspective about management decisions that led to falling revenues. The guy that comes in every day to create textures or network code are not the ones that are responsible for missing revenue targets. It's the idiots in charge that think they can make a live service game keep growing over a 10 year life cycle.
To be honest, that won't happen. Upper and C-suite management will keep certain managers in place, because they know the industry, they know the market, they know the inside out of the company. Meaning, replacing them would potentially cost more than keeping them.
it's all short term revenue stuff. They want long term growth without short term sacrifices.
@@BruceKarrde Employing executives that think that they can keep a live service first person shooter going and growing and hitting massive revenue targets for 8+ years is definitely not saving them money over time. Bungie should have had Destiny 3 out in 2021 or 2022 at the very latest instead of trying to milk this dying cow of a game. It's not like this is just one of many egg's in Bungie's basket. It is their only product and trying to keep it going is crazy. Destiny 2 is utterly impenetrable to try to come back to as a hiatus. That isn't the poor fucking community manager's or the music composer's or the 3D modeler guy's fault.
Yeah, I wish.
That's the belief of these Liberals: all things must grow infinitely.
I feel the industry is completely broken and there needs to be major reform in corporate leadership across the board. It honestly feels like asset-stripping at this point, making as much cash as they can in the short term, while causing huge long term damage that none of these execs will stay around to deal with.
This is happening across creative industries. So many sites I’ve enjoyed reading for years are effectively defunct. The behavior sucks and is abhorrent, for sure.
Asking Capitalism not to be Capitalism under a pro-Capitalist, Neo-Liberal government structure....I'd recommend familiarizing yourself with the Myth of Sisyphus.
welcome to capitalism and in particular publicly traded companies.
Legal embezzlement is the executive meta of modern America. Cut deep while milking customers as much as possible while taking home huge bonuses. Walk away rich after the company is driven into the ground.
Imo "Reforming Corporate Leadership" won't solve anything. Will simply kick the can down the road until the new leadership is facing the same exact pressures. Personally I think the solution for the future is just to stop supporting these larger publishers, and give your money to independent studios to help promote their growth. I look at it in a similar way to trying to "buy local" rather than getting everything at Walmart or something.
What made the Bungie layoffs a bitter pill to swallow was how some of them were veteran's of the
Studio and were there from the very beginning only to be shoved aside like their commitment to Bungie
didn't matter.
I hope Pete Parsons knows how badly he screwed up,thats all I'll say because being a fan of Bungie
for this long this news is still pretty fresh.
I don't love Nintendo.
But we took Iwata for granted, the man cut his own salary to save other people's jobs, and he's the standard all CEOs should be held to.
Yeah, and as a result, the foundation remained intact and they effectively rebounded with the Switch. Sadly, Iwata-san passed before Switch released.
On the marketing side for 10 years, entirely with one company. But I've "survived" 6 major layoffs that effected those around me. There's also a huge negative impact on those that remain, and that's honestly something that can never really be quantified in output.
Yeah, a very good point
This is not only a problem in the games industry ... It's a trend in all the sectors of the economy.., records highs and if there's only a ripple people are out meanwhile CEO's and shareholders always get there money no matter what.... There's something really wrong...
Welcome to corporations and C-level incentivized behavior. They do this because their C-Level bonuses are dependent on hitting numbers. They don't care about the people or the company or the long-term viability of either. C-Level compensation is NOT tied to keeping a company or product or employees healthy and viable for a long time -- it's all about short term maximized gains (money). Best said in Alien: "All other priorities rescinded, crew expendable."
Yeah, I said in the video that it’s not just games.
@@charalanahzardIt is kind of like the life cycle of industrialized era, late capitalism, has been happening in the last 2 centuries: Arts/Inventions/Technology -> First steps, experimenting and expansion, objetive: none specific, it could be learn, explore, create, etc. -> "Golden era" of those things (Mass appeal) -> Higher economic social classes paying attention -> The arrival of those higher social classes with lots of economic capital into those things (tech, arts, etc. Apply to any industry) New objective: Infinite economic growth at any cost (in other words: greed and impossible expectations) -> Industrializing the artistical and humane process, making more in less time but also with less quality and appeal -> Decadence of the industry (not meeting the economic expectations of the higher class) -> Layoffs, hard working conditions, and unemployment -> Unions -> Corruption -> Social movements -> New social and labour policies (in the best scenario, worst scenario is armed movements). Repeat in any emerging industry, the games industry, in some companies, is at the unionizing stage, only those companies that still hold the first stage and objectives guiding their actions are capable of pushing the boundaries of the games industry. I don't know, I'm missing more steps but overall it's kind of what has been happening in a lot of industries, they (corporates) kill creative work of the developers replacing it with productive work, like rushing Da Vinci to paint Mona Lisas in a day because they need more of his art to sell it and profit off of it as fast as they can. Marty O'Donell has an amazing talk about this on his channel the video is called "Be nice to the goose" you should check it out :D
"As a gamer, you are losing when people get laid off." ~ Alanah Pearce
What a powerful phrase. Couldn't say it better Alanah
Thank you for your well-informed, passionate response. It's truly heartbreaking and criminal that these highly paid execs can make horrible decisions and not suffer any consequences. Instead, they callously fire the very people that are devoted to making the best experience for the players. It's a hollow gesture that some of the execs cut their bonuses in response to the missed projections. Why are they still receiving bonuses while they gut their studio for their own terrible decisions. Fucking, unreal.
I recently watched an interview with Steve Jobs, and there's a great moment where he talks about how the great "product people" get rotted out of a company when product improvements don't move the company forward as much as sales and marketing, and so "sales and marketing people" get promoteed, making decisions that have nothing to do with the core products that brought them to the current position.
Banger of an interview too.
Words to live by from the late great Michael brooks “be compassionate to individuals, be ruthless to systems” my hearts with all affected by layoffs and the disheartening reality of the industry that’s solely built and maintained by extremely passionate people can only be combatted with collective action. We’re in an incredibly important time with how much labor movement has been happening throughout not only the US but the world: SAG-AFSTRA, the UAW, WGA, nurses, teachers, even non full-time salaried workers fighting for their rights to do what they love to do while also making a realistic livable wage and having job security. Every single person that reads this deserves that and we can only be heard when we’re fighting for it together. Thank you for speaking on these incredibly important topics despite it being a somber note, I’ve felt you’ve always been a perfect ambassador for the gaming culture since seeing you on ign, so many years laters and you’re still the undisputed goat❤️
we lost so much with him passing.
Michael Brooks was great, him along with Sam Seder is how I got into watching Majority Report clips, left is best 💪
I've worked in the tech industry for over a decade and this is definitely a common trend. Upper management tends to make terrible decisions to try to boost short term profits which tends to backfire then shit rolls downhill and the people who had nothing to do with the decisions tend to pay for it. Meanwhile those same managers consolidate more descision making power and give themselves raises for being such good business people. This is definitely more pronounced in the game industry since so many people are putting everythign into games. I remember raiding in a game with someone who worked in the games industry. He ended up dropping the raid becaue of the emotional and mental breakdowns he was having from the number fo hours he was putting in, the lack of social life he was able to have, and just life in general. It's a sad state of affairs becasue if anything the community needs to support hte devs more than anyone.
Well said. Executives need to take responsibility when they steer the ship into stormy waters, not blame it on the crew. Some high level pay cuts would show good faith rather than sentimental tweets.
I feel terrible for all the bungie devs that got laid off, but thank you for highlighting Liana specifically. Her thread was unfortunately how I found out about the layoffs and I was shocked that she was among them. After dmg left, she became the main voice I looked for from the community team and I always appreciated her passion for the game. The layoffs with the community team hit me the most in general because I know the amount of toxicity and threats they've been put through over the last few years and they have quite literally been on the frontline for the declining player sentiment and they really have no control themselves over the things players are upset about. To see them laid off after all this seems like such a slap in the face to me, and I'm sure that's how it feels to them.
Amazing vid. We need advocates like you more than EVER. Hold publishers accountable!!!
I am a member of the WGA, and I just cannot express how much my heart aches for your industry. I’ve loved games my whole life, but knowing how devs are consistently treated industry-wide makes me sick to my stomach whenever I sit down to play. I truly truly hope that you can unionize as soon as possible. Being part of a strike this year, while painful, was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. We shouldn’t have to fight for what we deserve-but when we fight, we win.
You have my sword. Always. ✊🏾
Unions strong! Workers rights! Workers thrive!
yep that is coming soon. Some of the polish AAA game teams are unionizing. with the success of sag and wga it is certainly coming.
I'm going to be honest though, as someone who is in the industry and I've voiced this opinion before at work even, I think a lot of companies have too many employees, to an extent where it doesn't make sense.
I'm pretty sure there are people at every major gaming company that has people that almost do nothing of value. I know this sounds harsh but I legit think this is the case for 90% of places.
I'm not talking about indie companies, for people who is reading this. I'm talking about the major players in the industry. I'm not surprised people are getting laid off because having people who do next to nothing is a loss (I've seen this at the two major places I've worked at, that there are people who just waltz around during development, I was never sure about what they were doing).
Interest rates went up on corporate loans. The cost of labor is increasing. Companies across gaming and tech massively over hired over the last decade. It’s been meme on places like TikTok for years that there are people in companies like google who essentially do nothing. That’s having to change now.
The rivers of cash are drying up and people are going to have to justify their jobs. Im sure it’s incredibly stressful and it can seem unfair but may be necessary to trim budgets even if the company appears successful.
It’s so sad to see so many game industry layoffs recently
Most game industries now just want people who can make something thats a cash grab vs people who actually has passion for games. Its all business now
@@_SoVereign_It’s way more nuanced than that. And it’s always been a business.
@@_SoVereign_ Decades ago it was pretty well known that companies would lay off entire teams after a game was shipped. Not really anything new.
True im kinda just talking, ignore me fr
@@_SoVereign_lmaoo relatable
I really hope devs get to unionize as soon as possible. It's awful to live with the constant feeling that your job is on the line
im in a union, layoffs still happen. being in a union doesnt prevent a layoff.
You can get laid off even if you are part of a Union. If a company can show you that you are a loss for them in terms of money you can still get fired easily.
The company can still have A TON of money, but different people bring in different amounts of money for the company and again, if you are on the lower end your job is never safe.
They are not forced to have people stay who are a loss for them. That would be even crazier if that was a thing, no one would ever have the balls to hire anyone.
Unions don't stop layoffs. They help protect you, but that's about it.
Guys, I know how unions work. The devs having some protection is better than nothing...
@@lipaogamerfelipeeugenio8204 with that logic in mind, shouldnt every other job be unionized for protection as well?
If one person loses their job, it's an employee problem. If a ton of people lose their job, it's a management problem.
Definitely not the case.
@@SuperJJParker I'm open minded and encourage the addition of any exceptions! After all, I made a comment that was an over simplification. Feel free to include anything that might make people more aware of the truth.
I studied game development for 3 years and absolutely loved it, but one of the main reasons i didn't carry on with it was because every company makes cuts every few years, getting to know a few people in the industry they moved from place to place every few years and this lifestyle just didn't suit mine. The crunch is real, the pay isn't great, it isn't bad but the amount of hours you put in just isn't worth it, more so when you're starting off for fair reasons but still.
One of those laid off employees I am friends with, we were coworkers at a company before she went to Bungie. When we parted ways for jobs she stayed in gaming industry (going to Bungie) and I went into tech (leaving the games industry). I got really tired of the crazy hours, lower pay, and surprise layoffs that the gaming industry does. Even here I was shocked when she was part of the layoffs, that company (Bungie) is really going to suffer long-term for all this lost talent and moral killer its started.
Sure, no doubt tech sector can be just as frustrating depending on the company you go with but I found a real winner where I get paid 4x what the game industry would pay me, its a full time salary position with stock options, and no overtime/no extra working hours. I love gaming but realize its better to be just a fan of games than deal with that industry anymore, its not as reliable as it should be to its workers.
This sucks. Unfortunately this is happening everywhere in all industries. Paying my mortgage is always a concern even with a decent wage as I’m fully aware if I can’t pay it I loose everything 😔
That’s how they keep you in line. Golden handcuffs. Work hard boy or your family starves. Kinda wrong on a human level imo
Hey Alanah, I'm working in another video game giant and we all worried about our jobs in my team right now, all seniors, and even working on a game that is a money printing machine. The times are scary !
"All games suck now" - - - People who buy consoles for Madden and COD exclusively.
Creative jobs are truely underseige right now, seeing the shelving of Coyote vs acme shelved, and the Dreamworks Co-founder practically salivating at using AI to reduce the number of animator jobs. And then all the stuff in the games industry is rough as heck man.
How it often works is apply pressure to devs until they burn out, then fire them for lack of performance. Devs apply pressure to the suits then get layed off for speaking up. Execs get the enormous paycheck but can't stand the responsibility nor criticism of their position.
Layoff was bound to hit the games industry given the current tech layoffs.
Right now the economy is in a downturn meaning no industry is going to be immune. Even the music industry is getting hit by layoffs though these jobs that are being loss are executive positions.
This is an important message. Thanks for putting it out there! The devs deserve better.
The problem with this mentality is that if a game is bad, the devs still deserve the blame. They are the ones actually working on it. No, we shouldn’t treat people in this industry with kids gloves. This doesn’t mean the executives get no blame, but devs are just as much of a reason.
That said, executive pay should be cut before layoffs but this is a problem across all industries.
I'm with the Carpenters union in NJ/NY, and I love my job. Layoffs are part of the work. Huge multi-year projects ramp up and then ramp down (much as videogame projects do). We never expect to be employed indefinitely, and sometimes layoffs are more unexpected than others. This is pretty normal in a lot of industries. I personally don't feel that a company owes me employment because I'm a good, passionate worker. It's a mutually beneficial one-to-one transactional relationship at the end of the day where we both are getting what we want/need out of the situation. That being said, some of the relationships that we build sometimes are great, real, and lasting, and the separation blows...but I chose this...to be an employee. It's not personal. It's business. People take this stuff way too personally and to heart. 🤷♂️
And I am aware that I say this behind the security of the union that I'm a part of, but I felt the same way when I was freelance as well.
Same thing can be applied to governments and military leadership. The people who make the stupid decisions don't pay for them. Everyone else does...
I feel there are a few major points to be addressed to help keep good AAA games & jobs.
1. The need for continuous profit growth YOY, profit alone isn't good enough, publishers need more each year.
2. The game dev cycles needs to be brought back down to a realistic 2-4 years. These massive 6-8 year cycles mean every games costs an insane amount and everything is riding on it's success.
3. Gamers need to stop being cunts and accept that with a 2-4 year cycle a game isn't going to look photo-realistic, it's going to look great, not insane.
I saw a headline that Modern Warfare 3 got made in 16 months. This is their cash cow and they rush it. It’s crunch from the word “go”. Developers at some of these big publishers get treated like garbage. The CEOs gotta get their bonuses and the analysts watching the stock price have to be pleased that the yearly money maker is released on time.
As a junior looking for a job all I see for job postings are senior, lead, and director positions. I've only ever seen one junior position that still required 2 - 3 years experience. Seeing these jobs openings and the experience necessary for a JUNIOR position along with the news of the mass layoffs has made me reconsider joining the gaming industry. Which sucks because I understand the passion to create something people would love and be fondly remembered for years.
It's like that pretty much everywhere
@@jaybird0312 and it sucks that it's like that. Can't get a job without experience and can't get experience without a job
I wish someone would articulate better the functional ways in which unions would affect layoffs. The working conditions thing is pretty straightforward but "give a voice to" means nothing to me. What kind of contractual agreements are even possible that would actually protect against layoffs? I can see how you could pre negotiate things like severance maybe create an additional cost to the company that might dissuade the company to lay people off, but I can't see a world where a company is made incapable of cost cutting. I'd also be weary of horror stories from other unions that make individual firings difficult including to both poor performers and worse, toxic employees.
A former software dev / web dev here, you're right on the mark. In general, working condition improvements and unionisation is a must in the software and tech industry. Other industries which have unionisation have caused Managers to operate more carefully and alongside other things this has the benefit of improving Management accountability and decision quality (because bad managers cause fights with the union). There are so many cases where bad management in tech is behind poor performance that it amazes me to hear Corporates or HR types still speak like unions are unnecessary or an evil.
Also, the repeated employment crunches I've seen over the decade, in the general tech industry, can make it harder for juniors to onboard into first roles and harder for all to fight for better salaries and conditions, with effects like ridiculous demands within job applications and a continuous shortage of Seniors, and harder to fight for good conditions when there's a high supply / lower demand during the crunch time (outside of unions).
now that makes sense. double office size, lay off ppl.
I used to play Destiny (both 1 and 2) on a regular basis. I drifted away because I was not happy with the direction it seemed to be going in. I was never unhappy with the dev's but rather with the policy setting suits. It's really a shame that we don't live in a world where we keep the workforce and lay off the policy makers who cause these problems. Good vid
What direction was the game going that made you unhappy?
@@Raijin-RyuX24 There were several things but the biggest was the continual expansion of microtransactions. When they first left ABK most of us (well, me and my friends tbh) cheered. We really thought that all the money grabbing and greed were from ABK, especially since they are the very worst for this kind of greed. Or were, at least; time will tell if they change under Xbox. It soon became apparent that Bungie themselves (again, the suits, not the dev's) were just as guilty as the parent publisher. Quite a few of us moved on in the ensuing months. A shame really; I still miss those days. Take care
most of the micro-transactions are for cosmetics though. I do think items like the dungeon key should be included with the season pass. I do think cosmetics are a bit overpriced. But as long as people keep buying that stuff they’ll keep added it.
@@Raijin-RyuX24 These things bring constantly in your face detract from the game experience. It got much worse from 1 to 2. If you want these types of storefronts to continue to thrive than by all means leave them alone. For me, they ruin the game experience and I will not continue to frequent games where they are constantly on display. Take care
Facts!!!! I left the gaming industry after 6 years of being there. When I see the comments being made, even from my own alliance members in games i play, I take it personally and get heated about it.
Well said. What a lot of people dont understand (until it affects them) is that in every industry and in every case where layoffs occur or a company closes is that there absolutely were people on every level below executive leadership telling that leadership about the problems that these out of touch rich people ignore, thinking that they know better. For every GTA Online where someone made the decision to lean in on microtransactions there are dozens of other live service games that died taking that same approach.
It's a great thing the Game Awards nominated Destiny 2 as *"Best Community Support."* It's no wonder why people are starting to question the decision of these so called judges...? *Halo Infinite* deserved that title hands down, and should've also been in *"Best Ongoing Game."*
Two weeks before Thanksgiving (USA). Just starting the Holiday season. I know it doesn't mean much to those now looking for a new job, but my heart goes out to you. I've been there and it's so disheartening.
I was wondering if you were gonna cover this on her or PWL. Super stoked you're covering this and super solid points and takes. Thanks man.
The layoff timeframe is especially egregious. They made sure to do it the day before their stock shares from the deal would vest. So they not only lost their job but also those shares. They need to sue the hell out of Sony and Bungie, that is basically fraudulent.
I always appreciate your view, because you’re able to balance an insiders insight with your personal love and passion for games and the gaming industry. A nuanced take is rare these days. Thanks.
it's important when you mention how "many of these people moved cities for that job", because it's the kind of realization that can help people understand why the "the owners are the risk-takers" argument is bs when we talk about the economy.
taking up a job is a huge risk and requires trusting the employer. yet those risks are not rewarded as they are with shareholders.
Thank you sooo so very much for making this video. Gamer and Dev here and im just feeling very beat down by whats happening. We need changes. so badly. and these changes will positively effect the games and gamers too.
This is why everyone should unionize, regardless of what industry they work in.
100% The sooner this happens the better it will be for EVERYONE involved.
You're always so good on this issue. Game developers really need a union and they needed it yesterday.
Video games are like music. There are always good games you just gotta find it.
Imagine owning a company that makes games and doesnt understand they're losing money because they're not focused on gameplay....
I got laid off at the pot shop. hard times.
I've been laid off twice in my life, it sucks, but just because you work for a video game developer doesn't make you special or immune from lay offs.
Very basically, people fundamentally lack class consciousness. Consumers and workers are almost always aligned in their class interests. However, there’s been a highly effective cultural push to obfuscate the reality that it’s us vs the suits. It always has been.
It's one thing to lay a group of people off to reorganize, but to do so over the failures created by a studio head or company exec/ceo is absolutely abysmal. This happened with Halo Infinite not longer after Season 1 or 2 dropped. Bonnie Ross, Frank O'connor, and Kiki Wolfkill ultimately created a ton of issues that led to the developers quitting from stress or being let go later on down the road when Pierre Hientz took over to reorganize the company. All of that could've been avoided however. But it isn't just happening with 343 Industries and Halo, it's happening with Bungie, EA, CDPR, Epic, and so many more.
Like was said above, people don't join game studios and work on games to make money, they do it because they care about the universe that they're developing. All that love that goes into the environments, the gameplay, sound effects, characters, models, story...it all is a labor of love that takes months or years to put together carefully, only to be shit on by a awful studio head or CEO who has no care for the state or quality of the games being released. If you are the owner of a game studio, your first and foremost important concerns should be your employees and what they feel, and then the product being released to the public, as both are tied to your success ultimately. If a developer is begging for their voice to be heard about something going on behind the scenes and they're being silenced or fired for it, that should be a HUGE red flag.
These developers have EVERY right across the industry to unionize, to speak up, to do something about what's going on behind closed doors in the industry. All the CEOs and Studio heads care about anymore is filling their pockets, not the customers or their own employees, and it's so obvious to see. Imagine if a company can unionize and halt the release timeframe of a game to ensure it released bug free, with all the content and features promised and shown off, stress free, no burn out, or worries of their employment being unreasonably terminated. The writers strike showed what could happen and many of them got far better care post-strike. The same needs to happen for the gaming industry. Imagine what could've been of Cyberpunk 2077 if the game was given more time, or Destiny, Halo, Battlefield...Battlefront II. So many things could've been different. People need to start speaking up and create a voice for the gaming industry, or more and more big titles and companies are gonna collapse and sink.
Respawn is my pick for best shooter mechanics
Also destiny 2 is not free to play lol, if i want to come back as returning gamer it would cost me 134 dollars to come back.
That ain’t free lol
Layoffs are corrections. They arent right or wrong. You are not owed your job tomorrow. If people can recognize that, as businesses know that you may just walk away tomorrow as well and there is nothing they can do about it. Fair is fair there.
Yeppers
My issue with destiny 2 is that they completely removed content from the game. It was also super grindy and got less fun over time
It’s a looter shooter. Of course it’s super grindy. I agree about the vault though. A couple things make sense because of story but not being able to play old content we paid for is uncool.
@@Raijin-RyuX24 my issue with the way they handle the story is that it's for everyone. Most games handle the story like each person is unique. So in destiny, if I haven't killed a raid boss, but others have, the game says he's dead. At least, that's my understanding.
@@WhySolSirius you mean like when the story moves forward in the next expansion and the raid boss is dead but you, the player that is still playing two expansions back haven’t reached that point yet?
I think I understand. No one wants story spoiled for them. I don’t like when a new expansion released and you’re automatically throne into the new story intro quest when you log on. This is confusing if you’re a player that’s catching up. But I also understand the devs are expecting majority of its player base to be current in the story.
I find a lot of the problems often come from executives insulating themselves from consequences, and more often than not its business people only at the top who are just concerned only about quarterly profits rather than including opinions from the creatives. Its been a bad trend for a lot of creative industries that this happens and it makes everything worse
The problem is with the product, in the old days when you bought a game, you bought a whole game, with destiny they thought they invented a cash cow, sooner or later the consumer will get bored with these antics and they will go somewhere else....
I love love love how Alanah always brings the true down to earth perspective. I learned and only realised that executives are the problem from Alanah and now many youtubers are also saying it. Alanah you're so fantastic for these videos!
It's rough, it feels like consumers are set against the corps for a long time now, and it's manifesting in sad ways for the people who do bust their asses on game dev. There's also the situation with the Dragon Age devs who got laid off, but were under a strict NDA so they couldn't show off a portfolio of work they were putting into Dread Wolf. Corp is a huge issue, and being beholden to ROI instead of art or fun is really the seedy issue here.
I think it hurts a lot of people because a lot of people in tech and games both have an idealistic and optimistic mindset which is not (and it could be argued can not) be shared by their management and their publishers. It is the modern problem of creatives (art, programming and the like) versus the middlemen (management, bookkeepers and c-suite). The middle-men need the creatives to do the work. The creatives are passionate about the work so they pour everything in there. The middlemen reap the benefits often (with clear exceptions with tech. management) getting the highest pay and to make the decisions and when management decisions impact the product it is the creatives that are shocked when they are the primary thing out the door. The idealism often shares a mental connection with empathy and thus it saddens, angers and bothers people when these things happen, because you are left behind with the feeling that the ones who do the actual work, the creators are the ones who end up being punished (fired) for things beyond their control. The thing they had focused on and worked towards disappears. For the individual it can feel like a loss and can lead to sorrow on top of the stress of the lost job (a worse thing in the US than in some other places with less social security nets). And for observers it is bitter as well. Those still invested in the game company or game as a fan can feel the exact same worry especially withe live service games where people have communities, friendships and experiences that cannot be easily transferred or replicated. I am for example a GM for table-top RPG and on occasion one of my campaigns crumbles and ends early. That is a sad event and to me a small glance into how it would feel to worry about a live service disappearing or a game company failing (I for example felt something akin to a small loss of faith in Bioware after playing first Mass Effect 3 and then later Mass Effect Andromeda and since I will not buy their games on launch but will wait a while for serious post-launch reviews before I touch their games now). So to round up I understand why there are feelings at play here for the people outside the industry (led by trolling but also by worry about time and social currency invested) and I understand Alanah's worry about the industry, but it is in the nature of non-highly regulated markets to consolidate to monopoly and monoculture (AAA games and publishing) or boom and bust.
Thanks for his video, miss. You actually put on words some of my nebolous thoughts about this situation and helped me to better understand few things I was actually missing. I really appreciated it.
I came from D1 and was there on day one for D2. What stuck in my craw was the notion that PAID content would be removed from the game due to the crazy claim that the game engine could not support it, when in fact D2 is an instanced based game engine. Then, each subsequent season introduced more and more monetization including requiring players to PAY for access to Legendary items a SECOND time; or items that were NOT included in the Season Pass that could only be acquired by spending MORE money. I said aloud in my best Palpatine voice, "Yes... yes... the greed is strong with this one... eh eh eh eh ehhhh." Then Lightfall came out (which I pre-ordered and NEVER played) due to abysmal reviews; well, that pretty much put a nail in the coffin for my D2 adventuring days.
Pay for access to legendary items a second time? What are you talking about?
Most of the hate I’ve seen about Lightfall was regarding the story not being as good as the one before. But the activities, new subclass and such were good. In fact, that subclass is the best in game right now. The seasonal model is a bit meh and the drip fed seasonal story can feel lame.
As someone who works in the tech industry as a PM and who loves video games.. I will never work on video games. Even tho the tech industry has faced 300k layoffs this year, our payouts are wayy higher and it’s easier to find work.
Ex-Destiny 1 and 2 player here. People hating on devs are a sad example of how selfish our societies have become. "What have you done for me lately?" has replaced common human care and decency.
And that's remarkably similar to the approach AAA management have to game design - it seems very clear they're telling devs what to make and how to make it, with the instructions being to focus on what will make every last dollar possible. This in turn drives long-term players away. I quit playing Destiny when I realised just how manipulative the RNG and FOMO-based activity schedule had become, meanwhile the core activities (strikes and crucible) had become absolute jokes due to way that player abilities were being constantly re-jigged and empowered.
And I agree the shooting mechanics of Destiny are probably the best (or close to best) to be found in an FPS game...but being good (and accurate) with your firearm has become barely important as players exploit metas that are created in the first place to attract and keep casuals (who apparently aren't even staying anyway). Bungie could have been happy with a very good sized fan base, without free-to-play players being enticed into the microtransaction economy...but the CEO etc decided to go for maximum financial return...and that will always see quality being thrown under the bus.
As James/Steph Sterling used to often say; these companies don't want more of the money, they want *all* of the money... Nothing will ever be enough in an economic culture/system that's braindead enough to think 'continual growth' is feasible.
I hope this era is when people in general wake up to the reality that capitalism is corroding everything in life right now (figuratively and literally). Globalist capitalism is hurting everyone - left, centre, or right of the political spectrum.
You just published the most balanced summary of "What Happened at Bungie/Destiny". The dedicated Destiny content creators couldn't touch this. Too much anger - too much rush to publish. Thank You
I work in the mobile gaming market and our company has had 3 layoffs in the last 2-3 years (it all blends together when it comes to timeframes). I know we have been worried about additional layoffs here but "reassured" that there won't be any more this year. Hopefully, things get better. I would love to see more Unions in the industry. So many of the problems can be boiled down to leadership making poor decisions. The mobile market is only going to get worse with a flood of cheap, quick-to-market, games that only serve as a revenue source for bigger projects.
The C-Suite always seems to walk away with a pile of cash whilst making life miserable for the people actually doing the work.
Another thing is that Seattle is not a cheap place to live in with the rent for most places here being 1500-2000
my thing is, i feel like if people are not playing your game dont you blame the people in charge? the people making the decisions to pull the trigger on ideas that fall flat or dont work, those are the ones who need to be downsized/replaced!!!!!
As someone who's got a MA/BA & a bunch of other game related qualifications I feel so disregarded by the games industry. I spent 2 years trying to get a job & got nowhere but was consistently told by recruiters "you're a perfect fit, your work is great" then not getting the job. I've had my work seen, played & praised by studio heads & level design leads & told that my work is great but I still was never able to land a actual entry level job. When cost of living started to hit hard I had to give up applying for game industry jobs so I could find a more 'conventional job'. Its now been 6 months & the only news I've seen is how there's another round of lay offs or people being sacked just after they've formed a union or having their severance pay capped or health care taken away. But companies are STILL recording record profits. Why would I ever subject myself to a industry that has repeatedly in the last 10 -15 years shown me that they do not care about their staff, think high turn over rates are somehow a good thing & want to repeatedly nickel & dime people just to cut corners to meet a earnings report?? If places like bungie are wanting to sack tenured staff members with 20+ yr histories because they're 'not the right people' how the hell do I stand a chance at having any job security? I'd be terrified worrying when I'm gonna get sacked! Ngl the industry atm is so unappealing to me from the AI news from Microsoft to the constant layoffs, price increases & buzzwords like AAAA/ Super games coming out idk; the industry has so much bloat I don't think its ever gonna change now.
Games used to make me happy, I don't think they do anymore.
Excellent journalism yet again, one of a very few to do so. Thank you
Totally different industry, but DC Comics cuts were assistants, gophers, excess editors. No one deserves to be fired. People don't realize how long it takes to find a new job today.
I don't remember if you've talked about games media, but the story from the mass resignation at The Escapist is an interesting one I'd be curious to see you cover. I've been a fan of Yahtzee and Zero Punctuation for well over a decade.
The thing going hard in this video is that fire bomber jacket
Thank you for standing up for these people.
It did release back in 2017
Obviously it's going to see a decline
Live Service games are losing appeal
I joined the Destiny journey, thanks to someone dear to me. The Taken King was my first foray into the vast universe.
With 2, I kept going throughout as well. With the current run Lightfall, and season. It has been rough. I took a break for awhile.
I feel for the entire Bungie team. Crafting this amazing series, world building, atmosphere, and music. There is nothing else quite like it.
What do you think of "the escapist" lay-off that cause their core content creators group leave together?
Yeah wanting to hear what she thinks of this as well as former (quasi current) member of the games media.
Isn't it funny how Sony who owns Bungie (and it was their decision to cull staff) are sitting quietly in the background letting Bungie take all the heat for this.
Regarding any employer/employee good practices or relations…it’s not hard it’s just not done well 99% of the time. Enable workers to do their best. Provide training, provide support, provide goals. Provide the methods and resources to produce what is wanted. Engage with each side. Communicate both good and bad. Hopefully the result is a product enough people want to make a profit…
Us gamers need to form some sort of collective (like a union) to fight back at the corpos!
I would hope that the devs could move to some other Sony studios?
Although unions are a great thing to have in the workplace, they can not prevent layoffs.
Seattle is a massive game industry hub, so hopefully that makes it just a little easier for the laid-off people who moved there to find new jobs.
I work local paper mill near me for now. Been there for 5 years n was planning on retiring from there. Back in October, they announced that they're shutting down the mill in December. 500 jobs in the wind. N funny thing was that we got bonus for profit. We we're im the green compared to anywhere else. I'm just waiting on my notice to be kicked out now.
I've been laid off 5 times in my career since 2010. It doesn't matter how well/bad you do, companies have no loyalty. It's just sickening. I've been without a FT job for 10 months this time around. Companies don't respond to resumes either with almost 0 professionalism when they do. So, don't give your loyalty. Look out for yourself and stay safe out there.
If the game developers are the ones advocating for the players, then a developers union needs a seat on the board of directors. This would serve as a balance to directors who put a priority on making money.
Capcom seems like they're already going into the mobile market with its recent Resident Evil VIII on iPhones and Resident Evil 4 coming in like a month or so.
Yeah but that's not what people mean when they say games suck. Most of us aren't rocking a 3k $ pc. When they sacrifice fps for dynamic shadows that kinda sucks. When they replace a game single player game mode with one that's not, that kinda sucks for single player gamers. Like ye it's fine I'll play another game, but like I was looking forward to something that didn't come to fruition. People understand it's not the devs soooo
Was in a meeting today. And got told there wouldn't be any layoffs... yet. So that's fun.
As a long time Destiny fan(been in love with it since Bungie announced it)I will be leaving the franchise after The Final Shape because I want to see this 10yr journey to its end. After that thought I can't support Bungie(more so the higher ups)after all of this, it breaks my heart to remove myself from a world I love so much but I think it's sadly the only way to make a change to a studio(again the higher ups)that has been industry leading for decades for the better. I hope things inside Bungie improve for the sake of everything especially the pope on the floor putting their heart and soul into making what is such a great game possible. ❤❤❤
As someone who was recently fired for a bullshit reason, because I could be replaced by a cheaper option, and in the near future replaced by a computer, it sucks ass being fired.
I cannot explain why, but when I watch Alanah it kinda feels like sitting down with your favorite cousin and listening to her talk about what's going on in her field.
As an aside I can't believe how much CDPR stock was inflated in the lead up to CB2077 coming out and then how much it's dropped now, it's crazy to think that between 2015 and 2020 the value went up by over 20 times and since then has lost over 3 quarters of it's value and it's definitely made everything worse for them cus I bet their costs ballooned to insane levels during that period all based on an oberinflated stock price - which lets be honest was always unrealistic, I don't know if the traders are to blame for that or what but anyone who thought that was a sutainable price and a realistic evaluation would have to have been on crack, and when you lose that much value in such a short space of time management aren't going to have any pull against the money people
Paul Tassi released a tweet or article that said that the cuts came down from Sony, but it was on Bungie leadership to decide what to cut and instead of cutting their salaries (like Nintendo did) they did lay-offs. honestly, as a huge Destiny 2 fan, this was a massive gut punch and it sucks. i just hope now, they can do something great with who they have left.