Speaking with Game File at the Game Developers Choice Awards, Larian director of publishing Michael Douse gave his take on the current state of the industry, including some sharp criticism on the wave after wave of mass layoffs we've been seeing.
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im not really surprised by that, shes always been more a "let me talk about something else than what u want to know" kinda gal
"Shareholders" I call them cancer, they are already rich to begin with but need more and more. It's like a disease, with no cure.
If you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder in these big tech companies yourself. To demonize them as 'heartless rich people' shows you have no idea what you're talking about.
@Y2
Of course, it isn't about that. You are attempting to set up a self-righteous strawman to stir up some kind of ignorant mob mentality.
And by the way, most everyone is a touch heartless or we wouldn't be able to consume the products we do knowing very well how they are made. People have to be this way because of self-preservation and convenience.
@anast please explain to me how what i said is self righteous or a strawman. I simply pointed out that categorizing all shareholders as cancer is ridiculous.
I own shares in game companies. I'm not anything near a major share holder. I just want them to make good games and be successful because of that. I think it's the senior management that's the problem. They are the ones that should be making it clear to the shareholders what creates growth and ensures a future of their business. Not this weasle words garbage that she did on the interview. It was horrific. I don't know a shareholder that would be happy with any of them for this.
Same and I'm not rich by any stretch like most people's I'm just trying to keep my head above water these days most company's shareholders are made up of everyday people it's amazing how companies think we want something but the reality is we don't.
Disney are probably the worse at the moment it's shareholders voted on ending a lot of the crap and outing the current execs the execs turned around and said no we disagree with the shareholder vote
I meant at the rich fucks who have millions in the bank already. They are making so much per year, that if they don't make what they are expecting they go into a panic, when in reality it will not even hurt them at all. Those are greedy assholes.
"you have a pension then you are likely to be a shareholder"
Pensioners don't make any decisions about anything. Obviously that is not what this is about.
Yea, it was and it’s insulting that they think we’re dumb enough to fall for this. Look, the truth was you took a gamble on these studios and while they released some games to critical praise and great reception they just aren’t bringing in a ROI. Be transparent, you’re not a politician.
Just tell everyone you spend money on projects big and small and when money isn’t being made you go over the potential of revenue a studio can bring in vs those that can’t and make the hard decision to chop them.
She says this whole thing about “success” doesn’t fit one meaning for each studio. Well yea, a small budget production isn’t going to expect to sell the same as a large budget production.
One thing I wish they did though was let Tango be an independent studio.
disheartening to see no regard for the human cost of business anymore
the bad decisions and judgements of these CEOs severely impact the frontliners
these fake responses are just salt on wounds
imagine havin the audacity to say "we need more games like hifi rush" right after closing the studio that made it lol
followin up with this show of "deflecting every question" was in poor taste
My point exactly. These companies have to start wondering if it is so acceptable to pay 9 digits to CEOs instead of creating a reserve account for safety and to secure the company's future in the long run
Layoffs have are a short term solution to a long term problem. If these companies don't have anyone doing the actual work, they can't grow. Profits have skyrocketed at the expense of the in the chair devs.
Those are highly skilled employees. The quality of AAA(A) games are going to plummet.
Larian has been killing it. They are saying all the right things and they are listening to fans. I'm extremely happy with their decision to actually doing a physical release was super dope. Alot of studios could learn from them
The investors want their money. Let's deal with this issue along with the greedy management issue as well.
A lot of this stems from the players buying remastered/live service games. If companies can put minimal effort into making a product that sells well why not cut the fat? Games come out broken, drm ridden, incomplete and players still buy them. I have over 650 ps3/ps4 games and about 10 ps5 games. I’m still mostly playing ps4 games. The qualities gotten that bad (across the board). Make these companies start caring about their products buy voicing your opinions with your wallets and they’ll feel obligated to keep more devs on payroll.