The Games Industry Is Hurting

Welp.
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Video by Zion Grassl - / ziondood
Written Sources:
Microsoft Cuts 1,900 Jobs Across Xbox, Bethesda And Activision Blizzard Teams - www.purexbox.com/news/2024/01...
One-Third Of Game Developers Impacted By Layoffs In 2023, GDC Reports - www.nintendolife.com/news/202...
Donkey Kong Country Credits - www.mobygames.com/game/5199/d...
Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair Credits - www.mobygames.com/game/135613...
Celeste Credits - www.mobygames.com/game/101142...
Extremely OK Games Studio Tweet - x.com/exok_games/status/17502...
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Credits - www.mobygames.com/game/216014...
What's Going On With The Yooka-Laylee Developers, Playtonic Games? - • What's Going On With T...
Super Mario Bros. 3 Wiki - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_M...
Nintendo of Japan Sales Data - www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/fina...
Music Credits:
Animal Crossing City Folk / Let's Go To The City - 5AM
Mother 3 - As You Wish
NieR Automata - Fortress of Lies
TUNIC (Lifeformed × Janice Kwan) - Redwood Colonnade / open.spotify.com/album/5I7kCz...
#Layoffs #VideoGames #Xbox

[@purexbox]

The industry is hurting and we should be vocal expressing our concerns in a mindful way. Support those who lose their jobs and encourage a better world for the artists who bring joy to us through games. Great video Zion, proud of you for speaking up 🧡 - Craig

[@michaelgleason4791]

The industry is healthy. Booms and busts happen. Be sure to make the opposite of this video when another boom happens and how greedy these developers are when they hire so many developers. Phil Spencer makes $10M annually. If he split that salary over 1900 people, they'd make $5200. Do you think those people would stay for $5k/year? Ranting and clickbait may be fun. I understand accounting isn't. But this video is just stupid.

[@TheCrawl]

@@michaelgleason4791two things: first, that’s $10mil/yr before stock options. He is “worth” more than that annually. Second, his salary alone isn’t the point. It’s that these companies make *astronomical* amounts of money rn, and have more than enough not need layoffs. Like you say, the industry is “healthy” insofar as it’s making money. These layoffs aren’t happening bc they’re bleeding money; they’re happening bc axing 8-12% of staff equates to higher year-end margins that appease shareholders holders. So in other words: there’s more than enough money to go around. There’s more than enough to keep these teams working on games. There’s no reason these layoffs need to happen, and defending them, minimizing them, or even acting like they’re a good thing is ignorant and tone deaf at best, cruel at worst.

[@shanestevick679]

Video games suck and don't deliver. Developers lose their jobs. Video games development should have no dead line. Developers need to take their time and make awesome games that sell really well and make players coming back for more period.

[@Nathan-is7li]

@@michaelgleason4791I agree

[@alt_mode_rose]

​@michaelgleason4791 developers, publishers and CEOs are not the same. The decisions that lead to this situation were not made by developers, but CEOs and corporate leadership. That's where our problem lies.

[@That_Lady_Charlie]

Short explanation: Corporations and investors saw MASSIVE growth in the industry ...during 2020/2021. A time when people were staying home. And they just expected those profits to keep going up, without any foresight. CEOs and investors, not content to take a paycut, chose to lay off boots-on-the-ground workers instead. What a healthy and totally cool business decision that won't bite anyone in the butt this year.

[@cburks6207]

Sounds like a normal corporate job to me

[@Lifesizemortal]

Investors. There's your problem right there.

[@Cosmicgardening]

When you live you life one financial quarter at a time :(

[@ripliini]

Not just that. Quite a few companies went on a hiring spree and were offering ridiculous salaries and bonuses. That's now coming back to bite them in the ass.

[@JIreland1992]

Right, or the reason behind most of the firings last year was due to Embracer Group overspending for a merger that didn’t happen and this is them trying to stay afloat.

[@LopezXiann14]

Funny how the thumbnail is using Mario images but Nintendo of Japan is probably one of the best companies to treat their employees way better compared to most companies right now

[@ninstars]

Their high profile employees everyone knows about? Sure. The rest? I highly doubt.

[@MarioFan587YT]

​​@@ninstars Nintendo has an employee retention rate of over 98%. They've gotta be doing something right with them if pretty much nobody leaves the place.

[@keeganmcfarland7507]

​@MarioFan587YT God, I hope the developers of Nintendo decides to start making awesome games again without any deadlines like how they did with Super Mario Brothers Wonder. As a matter of fact, should we respect, support, and protect Miyamoto and the developers of Nintendo (alongside with HAL LABRATORY, Hudson, NDcube, Monolith, name a few talented studios who worked with Nintendo over the years) more than the publishers/localizers of Nintendo?

[@LopezXiann14]

@@ninstars They’ve delayed games like New Horizons and Tears of The Kingdom not only to ensure a high quality but ti not stress the developers with tight deadlines. Mario Wonder’s developers were also given as much time as they wanted without a deadline. There’s a reason a lot of employees and developers speak well of the company.

[@Cosmicgardening]

​@@MarioFan587YTEmployees is like 正社員 it doesn't include contractors who are not considered employees.

[@84bombsjetpack23]

It’s not just the game industry. It’s the entire tech industry.

[@minecraftotalwar]

Exactly

[@T-Dawg75]

May you please elaborate?

[@84bombsjetpack23]

@@T-Dawg75I heard about at least seven tech companies laying off this year. It’s by no means a game industry thing. It’s the entire economy and tech companies are responding to it.

[@BassMaster.454]

Heck, it's not just technology. A lot of companies have been struggling and closing in recent years. Especially when I comes to material goods such as tools, knives, and equipment. ​@@84bombsjetpack23

[@billyfaulk6789]

All of the Entertainment industry too!

[@remakeyourself]

"The Industry" isn't hurting. It's doing so well that corporate executives realize that they can fire people, still make money, and improve profit margins. I work in SaaS and it's been the same thing in our industry for a couple years. Everyone is successful, every year we hit our numbers and the company grows by 40+% regardless of what kind of ungodly things we have to do to maintain that irresponsible growth rate, and yet every January and every September, 20% of my colleagues across the industry lose their jobs, get pushed out, or work somewhere that gets acquired...at least. This isn't a video game thing, but I DO think that the results WE see as gamers will be felt. In a couple years, game releases will slow as delays creep in, games will be buggier, and more and more MTX will be introduced to offset the slimming profit margins. I'm so sick of it, I live this kind of world every day and then I sit down to play games and now I see it here, too.

[@nicorobin5978]

Agreed. The part missing from this video is that Microsoft passed up Apple to become the most profitable company in the world today with 3 trillion in revenue on the same day they laid off 1900 people. 90% of what's in this video is irrelevant and feels like celebrities singing Imagine to us during covid. We don't need cozy vibes and well wishes. We need people at the top of Microsoft and other giant companies to be more concerned with their customers and employees and less concerned with their stockholders and themselves. Back in the day, it was okay if a company posted less revenue than last quarter on their financial report. They'd view it as still profiting while keeping everyone happy. Now, every quarter has to be more profit than the last to make investors happy and often times that comes at the cost of throwing people aside. The profit is there. The empathy isn't.

[@mikaelkarlsson8969]

More buggier games? I thought many of the games of late has been buggier,unfinished and with bad performance optimizing overall. The fact that they use unreal engine is to cut cost and to make it easier for the new people they hired since 2018. I think the buggier games is because they cut QA staff more inexperienced people that work on different parts. The bad engine performance is because of to many inexperienced unreal engine developers that are struggle to optimze the games even if the engine is supposed to be user friendly. Layoffs is probably not only because of this but I find myself avoiding to buy many of these games. I think many with me is tired of playing games that is so buggy and with bad performance that it impact the whole experience. So the impact of lower sales of what the publisher expect should not be underestimated. I mean it is the main source to keep a company alive and its enployees. If you think the games will be in a worse state than it already is. Then it will hit much much harder than this. People want things that work and that is not half broken. A game needs to be great to bring in the money. Layoffs will always be caused of loss of money. A loss for the comapany is when they not meet expectations. They can still make profit but not what they expect. When people dont deliver what they expect in terms of sales and profit they will be useless to them and not a asset to the company. They try to find new ways to increase the profit.

[@akaimizu1]

@@mikaelkarlsson8969as we have seen, for years, is that they trade the idea that the game could be unfinished and broken, but the Marketing team makes up for that. That’s why we have such successful big buggy releases, but the marketing team was successful enough to get an insane amount of people to buy it. It still falls into the mantra that the upper executives are using, “better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.” Sure, there can be certain games that tank due to the quality, but it seems at least as many take the money and run with it.

[@Nu_Merick]

Greed only hurts these companies in the long run. If nintendo does pay off ppl and continue to thrive, then other companies could follow suit. It's not always about the profit margins

[@charlieg6913]

So true. Its always all about the stockholders and the company fat cats. Honestly, they're probably the ones who are more expendable in reality. Sucks that this is how it goes. The people who actually make the games are the first ones to get canned.

[@pa5666]

Are we sure this has anything to do with the game industry actually hurting? Every industry across the board has been slashing their workforce and it has more to do with keeping up with record profits than them actually being in financial trouble. It's disgusting to see this level of greed in full effect.

[@michaelgleason4791]

Riiiiiiight, because these companies could easily survive with double their workforce right? Since you're obviously a corporate accountant, explain that one to me. There was record hiring in many industries because of the "pandemic." Markets go in cycles. They go up and down but generally trend upwards averaged over several decades. There was a boom. Now there's a bust. That's how it works.

[@alexprach]

Just what happens when a company is traded on a stock market, investors are the customers as much as actual players. Only by buying games from smaller studios can we push back against this. Stock markets based on speculation destroy value, luckily Nintendo doesn't grow so quickly that they are a speculation target, but we cannot always rely on this.

[@enthused7591]

Bingo, worst recession in history is coming. Has NOTHING to do with the video game industry, and in fact Sony and Nintendo sold record volume of consoles AND games for over 2 years STRAIGHT from 2020-2022. Now everyone's cost of living is up 60% due to the socialist policy and "free" money they handed out during that exact time frame. This will be so much worse than 2008 it won't even be funny.

[@Commander6444]

For what it's worth, American unemployment is at 3.7% as of writing. I doubt the same could be said for the tech industry in a vacuum, though.

[@mpokorny20]

@@Commander6444that’s a false number. Always has been. It’s most likely in the mid 20’s percentage wise.

[@JONATHANP1619]

Smaller Project, smaller scope, focus on quality and not trends = Money

[@crimsonshadow1140]

case in point; Lethal company, Palworld, Among Us, all of those sleeper hit indie titles

[@fleedledeedle666]

"The games industry is hurting" Bruh the whole world industry is hurting.😂😭

[@julioelizondo9405]

Exactly, people are dying everyday for someone's business. And these guys weeping for "videogames hurting"

[@chiquita683]

Bidenonmics

[@FTChomp9980]

The Chowder Profile pic makes a good point and Chowder is an underrated animated show.

[@WarpChaos]

Let's go Brandon

[@slothbirdbeard6996]

​@@julioelizondo9405"you can't complain about this thing because something is worse elsewhere" 🤡

[@joshuagrahambrown]

Conker really said it best, huh 😞

[@archaichobo6969]

Everybody is hurting. When the price of food skyrockets, video games get put on the back burner. People are really feeling the inflation and entertainment isn't nearly as important as putting food on the table.

[@enthused7591]

Bingo, that's what just 3 years of socialist fiscal policy can achieve. Got all the uneducated peoples hopes up that money would be free and easy forever. Sorry to tell ya.... It's almost like we've been saying that shortly after all the "free" 2020-2022 handouts dried up, the worst recession history would start. Now everyone's bills are up 60%. Freakin 3rd grade math. This is going to be brutal.

[@Jim55324]

Americans won’t ever have trouble getting food. Our obesity rate is already 43%. We are swimming in food.

[@kellyrousseau3839]

@@Jim55324that’s not how it works

[@Mr_Mcnasty]

Unfortunately it's not just the gaming industry but the entire economy in general. Everything is going under and tanking

[@enthused7591]

Bingo. Glad a few other people are seeing it. You can't create $6 trillion out of thin air and hand it out for free over 2 years straight. Now everyone's bills are up 60% and wondering why they can't afford to live. It's wild how many people didn't see this coming. It's 3rd grade math.

[@jamesgravil9162]

@@enthused7591 That's not just inflation though, it's corporations price-gouging.

[@enthused7591]

@@jamesgravil9162 Corporations had no choice but to raise prices equal to the amount of their input costs rising, which was entirely due to the unprecedented amount of newly printed dollars handed out for free, creating insatiable artificial "demand" out of nowhere (hence why PS5's were on Ebay for $1,000 for over 2 years). For over 2 years straight, the costs of raw materials, shipping, storage, and labor had gone up anywhere between 15-40% on average. One thing I do agree with though is that now that ALL of those input costs have come back down to roughly late-2020 levels, they haven't lowered their prices to reflect that, and that's part of what will cause this recession coming up. Sheer unaffordability. Home builders should be charging 30% less again to build homes but aren't and that's going to inevitably lead to the biggest housing crash in history. Most builders will be unemployed for the next 3-4 years minimum.

[@FTChomp9980]

The Layoffs happening isn't healthy for the Gaming Industry especially when so many Companies r letting go of Developers.

[@bradicas5359]

AI is a big part of letting people go. You really only need lead artists now.

[@michaelgleason4791]

Right they should actually hire more people so they can go out of business.

[@MaoRatto]

@@michaelgleason4791 ... Hire quality people and not diversity hires. AKA the exact opposite of EGS companies like Sweet Baby Inc. Honestly smaller games are better than big games.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Nintendo is the only one not laying off staff because Nintendo didn’t over invest like Microsoft did with their recently acquisitions of ABK.

[@raskolnikov6443]

@@MaoRattothis is a huge factor. People should be hired based on their skills not skin color or gender. Quotas and activists are ruining the entertainment industry and whole game studios. Just look at the suicide squad game. Perfect example. Another ruined studio.

[@aaronkay101kinetic]

This video was spot on and well said. Some video games companies are out there to churn out money and not because they want to create an experience. Whilst at the end of the day, they are a business and need to be profitable, they forget why they got into the video game industry to begin with: to bring experiences unlike any other to the masses.

[@Nathan-is7li]

This video is actually quite idiotic

[@John6-40]

These companies that have 140+ people working on a game aren't hurting for money at all. They are extremely profitable in a business that makes more money than all of Hollywood. As he pointed out in the video, the top selling games of today sell roughly 7 times as many copies as the early 90's. That makes up for the difference in size of the staffs. These companies are just being terrible to their employees. We need to fight back with our wallets and choose good.

[@JIreland1992]

@@John6-40those games also have a budget that dwarves the budgets of games made in the nineties. Them selling more copies means little when they have to sell millions just to break even.

[@Malignantt1]

@@JIreland1992 because theres no reason why games should cost 300 million to make and be as meh quality as they are. Alan wake 2 only cost like 80 million to make and damn near got game of the year lol wtf is sony spending 3-400 million on spiderman for?

[@JIreland1992]

@@Malignantt1 unfortunately in order to get them to lower the budget we need to get them to lower the scope of the games they make. Alan Wake 2 didn’t cost as much as Spider-Man 2 because it’s a small scale narrative driven survival horror game, while Spider-Man 2 is an open world game. I want that to happen too. If game companies made smaller scale AA releases to compliment their AAA output we’d not only have more games to play but the company’s themselves would be doing better financially.

[@Fakeditto]

I agree with everything you said, the worst part is that a lot of games are also just not being properly made anymore. Everyone wants to make the next big AAA game at $70 but the game releases with so many issues. Quality has gone down massively.

[@John6-40]

I've been gaming since 1988. Quality is definitely down. Sure, we had crap games back then, too, but AAA games released complete with very few bugs. These days, they know they can release a patch, and even if people complain, they usually still buy anyway. Also, don't get me started on the idea of AI made games. Creativity and passion will disappear. People need to unite and speak out against this.

[@Fakeditto]

@@John6-40 we gotta start talking with our wallets that’s for sure!

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Nintendo is the only one who still makes games properly.

[@SWOTHDRA]

Its because who they let in. Not people with actual talent and real passion, but people with blue hair and narratibes and pro nouns. Back to starbucks for them

[@SWOTHDRA]

​@@John6-40I rather have AI games then woke games. Imagine an AI which can make a propper chrono trigger remake, from gfx to story to gameplay, in a fraction of the time ,then a whole studio. We need more games , the quality isnt there. Most studios are in Woketreal or california , thats a problem

[@chiquita683]

If PS2 era games were on the level of current gaming we wouldn't have current games now. I swear if young people find out about emulation and PS2 games these new developers will never recover. Gaming peaked almost 20 years ago now

[@mrgzola25]

With E3 being closed indefinitely, it was very telling. The landscape is changing sadly. I dread the day when there are no more physical games. That's why I still love my Switch.

[@jackystarboi3152]

Honestly me and my friends are gonna stick with Nintendo directs and xbox showcases from now on cuz those formats feel more unique and have variety, unlike Geoff Keighley's fking monopoly now

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Physical games isn’t the only reason I love my Switch, the other reason is the Switch offers a breath of fresh air to the likes of Sony and Microsoft, the Switch and Nintendo as a whole are the last line of the old guard that put gameplay first and take their time with their game development and the results speak for themselves, yes the Switch is not as powerful as its rivals but it has a few things the likes of Xbox and PlayStation don’t, polished games for the most part from day 1 and all Nintendo games are complete with no bs “download requirements” and notice how Nintendo is the only one not laying off its staff, that’s also telling. The layoffs will continue at Xbox and PlayStation.

[@mrgzola25]

I watched GVG take on this. Nintendo execs get 2 million a year. The execs for companies EA get over 300 million each a year. They are a feckjng disgrace. Th3y inform how much money they make but still get rid of thousands of people. America is the main reason with workers rights. They have none. Japan ever got rid of anyone.

[@inamorta47-playertwist]

AAA games is destroying the gaming industry. Budgets are skyrocketting. Expectations are scalling. One mistake and flop means bankruptcy. Its crazy

[@tortugas-]

I miss Saturo Iwata🥹

[@SpindashStudios]

As a graphic designer that was affected my mass layoffs at WarnerMedia back in 2020, I can say it's disheartening hearing these last few years every one of these media and gaming companies, entertainment as a whole, continuously get hit with mass layoffs with what feels like there is no end. The feeling of being upended and displaced. Constantly trying to shake off the sense of hopelessness this kind of news sometimes makes me feel as an artist. It's tough. Despite these tumbles, I try to persevere, to keep motivated and optimistic through it all. Morale feels like an all time low and the discussion has to be made that there must be a better way than this. Stay passionate. Thanks for the vid, dood.

[@chuckchan4127]

You're wrong about one thing: there is an end. It's called bankruptcy. PiranhaBytes is dead as a good example.

[@myler45]

We have let greed rule our society.

[@twocandan1979]

I don't work in games, but I DO work in animation, and gaming is the industry I've always wanted to eventually work in. Not just the current news about layoffs, but the general attitude and treatment towards devs, artists etc recently has been absolutely deplorable. I'm glad you said all this man, and that goes for you guys in the comments who agree with him. It's good to hear that there are people who, even if they feel powerless, actually care about the people behind these projects.

[@nicksanchez8294]

I really think studios need to learn to tamper expectations for sales and budget accordingly. Not every game can sell five million units. I’m a big advocate for AA, more focused games with character and unique ideas. I hope these developers land on their feet.

[@hakunatatas]

Sadly, the only thing that's been growing for the past fifteen years in the games industry are; pressure on small companies, pressure on execs to increase profit margins in a non sustainable upwards trend, and shareholders besmirching everything as the ones that made all of this possible get their lives destroyed.

[@justajoshy]

Don't forget Team Cherry has 3 Devs, and they didn't go crazy with Hollow Knight and they are taking the time with Silk Song, and are not spending all the money in "realistic grafics" that don't look that realistic at the end.

[@fernandoportal5422]

Growing infinitely in a finite market will never work

[@tgbandroid17]

I don’t know about the other studios, but Microsoft’s case is probably more about mergers and acquisitions rather than games underperforming. I do think media companies are putting up too much of an investment, and the return on investment expectations are way too high.

[@MonkeysTucasTV]

Yeah they spent way too much money on Bethesda who went on to make that awful Starfield😂 and this is coming from someone’s who’s favorite game of all time is Skyrim .

[@tgbandroid17]

@@MonkeysTucasTV well I mean it’s not just that. It’s the products themselves too. James Cameron said that Avatar 2 needed to make 2 billion to break even. He’s probably exaggerating, but at the same time that’s the atmosphere of media, games included. Publishers and the like spend way too much money on advertising, and mismanage production costs.

[@akaimizu1]

The industry for the last decade or so has pretty much soured my interest in being a videogame developer. Outside maybe doing my own indie title or something. My friend, for years, used to see me (as a seasoned developer with a good amount of game knowledge) going into videogames as I love to play them. However, when it comes to finances, I needed better job security and potential pay, than what they were offering. I started to realize that the job I had, with more business related software, allowed me to rise to something I can eat better with. Nowadays, I hardly think about doing videogames if I relied on the money from videogames. It just doesn't feel like a viable field, anymore. That's the sad part.

[@RambleOnEmu]

As someone who was personally affected by this shift in the industry, I really want to thank you for putting this video out. I hope this is a wake up call for the industry to grow into a better version of itself with proper protections for developers

[@sockofdoom1]

Thank you for putting this together and helping with this conversation. I've been struggling to understand why, when on the face of it we're in an era of so many great games, the industry as a whole is in such difficult place and this video really helped

[@jnee]

You'd think big investors would bring job security but it seems like the opposite is true. Higher ups just throw money around like they're in a casino and are just watching numbers go up and down - people's livelihoods are completely abstract to them.

[@DamienThimons-rv1wj]

What's ruining the industry is the focus on going mainstream.

[@MaoRatto]

Finally someone who said it correctly! Also ESG crap like Sweet Baby Inc.

[@FTChomp9980]

Gaming going mainstream was the worst thing to happen.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

@@FTChomp9980 blame Sony for that with the success of the PlayStation which was what brought gaming to the mainstream and also the Wii brought in the casual gamers too.

[@TugsP]

I’ve long advocated for voting with your wallet - feels so good to hear someone say it out loud in a big way! This isn’t unique to gaming, but it hits differently to gamers because that’s our hobby. A “boycott” of any sort isn’t supposed to be easy. Yeah, it’s gonna hurt the company but it also hurts US too. We have to resist the urge to pick up the hot game when all our friends are and we miss out on the “water cooler talk” we would normally be in on. The thing is, it does work and when it does, it FEELS so good to pick up what you missed out on. My friend is a hardcore Pokémon fan and he agreed to hold off on Sword/Shield purchase on release day until they announced they’d bring more Pokémon to the game. He’d purchased every single gen on release day since gen 1 and this was an important streak for him. The day we bought our copies and played together was one of the sweetest gaming days I have ever had. So yeah, it does hurt us too, but it does have its rewards.

[@Avaitor_YT]

"vote"?

[@piku5637]

The abusive hierarchical employer/employee power dynamic needs to be phased out globally. A global shift towards cooperative models of production.

[@chuckchan4127]

Name the CEOs of companies, boycott companies with those abusive CEOs.

[@raskolnikov6443]

I strongly disagree with this. Companies going public is a huge issue. But you need hierarchy and leaders. You will not achieve much without it.

[@platinum2905]

Not as long as you have capitalism. It's in human nature to dominate others. Modern capitalism is just a smarter way of feudalism. And you have a lot of people defending it because they don't know any better or they have the false impression that it can't be better.

[@SodaPopBot]

Thanks for talking about this, it’s been rough lately

[@latch21]

THANK YOU!!! this video needs to exist. Bobby gets a golden handshake out the door after the rot he has caused and you telling me you couldn't use some of that to keep the jobs around? phil where is the pay cut? not a single CEO has taken a cut yet we have lost how many jobs in 18 months?. Zion thank you legend! this needs to be said and needs to be heard.

[@MilkWasABadChoice17]

Game companies in the 90s and even early 2000s were much smaller and required a lot less resources, a lot of companies created for the love of the art of games. Now with big companies like Microsoft and other very big companies are only into it to make more money for their shareholders. This type of thing will only get worse, these companies are only driven by growth and increasing profits. Unionization needs to happen to protect developers.

[@brady9592]

It’s not for a lack of supporting games, it’s the cruddy form of capitalism we’re in. More worker owned or focused studios is the route we should be exploring - as individual consumers of games that’s not so much in our hands, save for having awareness. And like others are saying it’s not unique to videos games. Something like what happened at The Escapist/Second Wind is inspiring as to how exec’s and investors can be parasitic and removing them can help both the people producing the thing and the quality focus of the thing itself.

[@IcePakOG]

Great perspective. I think this is a way humanity in general needs to look at every industry: employees are people and their wellbeing is far more important than saving money or overspending to the point where you have sack them to cut back on your losses.

[@LeleJackMusic]

Unfortunately, this isn't just a video game industry problem. This is a late stage capitalism problem where workers are seen as disposable and companies look at nothing but the numbers.

[@spookydoofus4526]

I wish it was possible to take a step back and make more arcadie and less graphically intense games. Like classic ps2 and gamecube era games. They would be more affordable to make and more affordable to buy.

[@geminijinxies7258]

And more fun to play! I just can't with the big AAA games that are made using the exact same formula every time. The PS2 and Gamecube era brought fun surprises.

[@tkmuaythaichronicle9657]

Thanks for making this video. Wasn’t aware of this before you. Very informative.

[@Brianycus]

Many don't know who I am, but I review games and talk about my experiences with them. I love doing that and I love to review something especially of older games that I grew up with like Mega Man, the older 3D Sonic, etc. Now in my three years of reviewing games, I've noticed something about the modern and classic era of gaming: that the modern gaming era is trying to compete with the wrong crowd. Modern gaming is bloated because they are too busy trying to match a "cinematic experience" that happens to be a video game rather than a video game that happens to have a cinematic experience. Perfect examples of this is when you look at an RPG like Persona 5, you feel like you are playing a video game whereas a game like the Last of Us, it feels more like you're playing a movie. That's the problem with the industry and why these layoffs are happening: the higher ups are too focused in catching up to something that never made sense in the gaming industry in the first place. They don't make video games anymore.

[@brichan1851]

This is like a second collapse of the gaming industry. It’s not happening like it did in 1983/1984, but it’s definitely trouble. A big problem is the gaming industry doesn’t know HOW to grow in a healthy way. Digital, huge budget, and unfinished games have been pushed into the industry and it is a problem for the finished product and the consumer. Quality control does not seem to be a priority. Another problem is identity politics. So many games are now being injected with “woke identity politics.” The issue is political agendas are injected into our games and forced on us as gamers. We do not want to be preached to. We don’t want our games to reflect the divisions of the real world along with tumult. We want to just play games and have fun. What is the future of gaming? Is it with consoles? Is it a streaming service? Are physical games really going to disappear? These questions permeate our hobby and are of great concern. Ubisoft’s declaration of us needing to “… get used to not owning our games,” is troubling. This is especially true when we consider the rising costs of games, even upon a digital release. Think of the investment in a single game with DLC and microtransactions. Should a company decide, for whatever reason, to pull a game from its service, is that just a loss for the consumer? Lawyers and corporate executives, who only care about a bottom line, are ruining our industry. It’s becoming too big, too fast. We need to pay attention to what they are doing and how they are harming our hobby. This industry has many challenges ahead. We all need to pay attention to what the leaders of publishers are doing and we need to speak with our wallets. If we don’t, these companies will continue to push our beloved hobby off a cliff in order to make a quick buck and secure their own golden parachutes. Don’t fall in line. Speak out. Avoid mediocrity. Continue to buy physical media that is beyond their control. If we don’t take these steps, we could see our industry collapse and all we would be left with are memories of the past when gaming was fun and good.

[@waffle-waffle5416]

Company usually laid-off "Redundant" jobs which is their term for basically "Use once, Fire 'em, Hire new" jobs. Usually they want to end financial year with as high profit as possible so they'll just fire those who are on the floor, give money that could go to those worker as a bonus to executive, write off high profit, then when it's time to do the work they'll hire new people to figure out codes that they didn't make or engine that they didn't knew while the high position talks about how they'll double the growth/profit next year by basically doing the same thing. it's just won't end as long as there's new Devs to abuse, many AAA studio these days just pushing out garbage after garbage because the high management is in disconnect with their Developers and Customer, most High Management would just filter out the news to Trending and Profitable.

[@AdondeBoy]

If you're interested about this topic, Moon Channel made a great video explaining the issue and the cause. It's a bit lengthy but it explains the matter in a very comprehensive way.

[@jkmovin]

Could feel the passion in this Zion and couldnt agree more. As a massive fan of the channel I would love to see this kind of rawness and real opinions on the channel more often should any of you feel it appropriate!

[@DJTS1991]

I'm so sorry, but the seriousness of the video was broken up with an unstoppable ad for Disney's The Little Mermakd live action remake, completely with two verses of Under The Sea lol

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

That's why it always pays to have an Adblocker!

[@sparkypack]

11:40 Tunic music kicks in.

[@yafavblerd]

Thank you for making this video, it's not only powerful in it's delivery, it's almost necessary to show the perspective of how people who appreciate video games as art & social impact feel

[@RagedChris]

If the video game companies had unions people could have a fighting chance. That is what happened to the writers in Hollywood.

Thanks for this heartfelt and insightful video. Let's no forget that when the industry prioritizes making value for shareholders, it cannot focus on making great games and caring for the workers who produce them.

[@Linealo]

I know this all sucks for those people and also for us, but I try to see some positives in this. Most of the layoffs are because companies overhired during the hype that COVID caused to the tech world. Things had to be pumped out fast, we're delayed because of it anyway and the quality already suffered enough. Them now laying off those people as it comes to a stop hurts, but they all collected important experiences and made important contacts. All those that were just laid off are potential people to work or contribute in some way at the next big indie hit. Those are all people that could be free of the shackles those companies have and can now use the experience and skills to create something less corporate and more passionate. Some might go solo-dev, other might group up. I don't want to downplay any of this, but having the hope that a lot of those people might make the next stardew valley or terraria has me at least a little bit less is worry, as bad as it is. It might take a bit until we hear or see this, but with how many people are laid off, I believe it's inevitable that sometime in the future there will be such an occasion.

[@nuclearbeeberman]

I'm myself working in game development for over 10 Years now. I was also part of lay offs in the past (not last year though). I think Games became worse some times in the PS3 era when business guys fully took over the industry. Now games are made as "products" not as a work of art. You see that in almost all gaming companies nowadays (not all though). This is very sad and especially for younger ones who never experienced the golden age of gaming when everything was possible. regarding the growth of the games market. Yes the market is bigger now than back then but there are A LOT more games today and also the market growth was not proportionally in all areas. Mainly Publishers of games like Call of Duty, Fifa, Mario Kart and Fortnite had a profit on that growth. Sure Indies too but the reality is we get less AAA titles and more and more indie titles per year + the indie market did not increase in size as the AAA market in the same time.

[@shinra2755]

Too many games are going ‘cinematic’ and narrative-driven with amazing graphics but shallow, unoriginal and repetitive gameplay. It’s almost like they’re ashamed to be games and want to be films. Good video games will sell well if the playability is there. All the other aspects are bonuses. Developers would do well to recenter interaction in their future titles.

[@Mysticbladegod]

Exploding budgets, costs of consoles and hardware and rising costs of games are absolutely ridiculous. We desperately need shorter games, smaller budgets, with worse graphics. That would preserve jobs and be better for consumers.

[@Chibilisous]

I'm so glad that people are talking about this. Being from the animation industry and personally affected by our own layoffs (been without a job since April), I can't help but feel a little hurt that our own industry isn't getting nearly the same amount of press or discussion. I feel like we're screaming into a void because no one cares or views animation with the same respect as other media.

[@trevorpettitt2898]

My friends and I talk about games we've bought every year. I noticed that the number bought as a group of us has gone down every year going back to 2016. Now 2023 was the year that all of us bought PS5s, but we as a result we bought a lot less games because everything is getting more expensive. What I wonder, is this happening for a lot of customers and with sales dropping and game expenses rising, equals layoffs in the industry. Hopefully things turn around in 2024, but I have my doubts.

[@PauLtus_B]

I would respect it if this topic is covered more regularly and even be brought up within reviews themselves. I'm not sure how to fix these kinds of problems and it'd probably require solutions on a legal level but more awareness will definitely not be a bad thing.

[@supersonic873]

I hope things get better for those people who lost there job and for the industry ❤

[@dragoon1090]

I love how you can work your ass off for a company, dedicate your life to them. Make them endless fortunes and without even considering your well-being they'll just cut you off and leave you to starve.

[@haunter27]

Thank you for this. I care about labor and video games, but somehow I missed all of this news. Also, thank you for including music from Mother 3!

[@Molybed1]

Anyone notice that there are no layoffs at Nintendo? Interesting..... eh?

[@jackystarboi3152]

Wasnt there something about how recent switch 1st party games costing less to make than Spiderman 2 PS5 (I vaguely remember)

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

@@jackystarboi3152 Nintendo putting Sony and Microsoft to shame on how to manage a business even in the dark days of the Wii U, the late, great Iwata took a pay cut so nobody would lose their jobs, can’t see Pnil Spencer doing that at Microsoft.

[@PrestoJacobson]

Are you hinting at Jon's Good Vibes Gaming video? Laws and policies are so corrupt here right now! This video hits hard in a different way, with Animal Crossing music choices, etc!💞 Keep it up!!

[@ragmanx6256]

The silver lining is: Notice how all these mass layoffs happen at big companies. This means the indie market will hopefully bloom from what was lost. For better or worse, mainstream juggernauts just can't help but produce overly formulaic and unremarkable stuff these days, while most of the meaningful innovation comes from small entrepreneurial devs. I'd like to believe this is a much needed wake up call to look at the indie sector with the respect it deserves. There's a good reason why so many people leave big companies to do their own thing, after all.

[@matthewhardwick8208]

Apparently Nintendo is the only gaming company who knows what they're doing and what their customers actually want. While that could easily change whenever they decide to reveal Switch 2 ... hopefully Nintendo has learnt their lesson from the Wii U situation.

[@ziqi92]

A massive amount of money and resources aren't necessary to make a good game. The simpler stuff is often the best stuff.

[@SanderEvers]

Sadly there is a difference between quality and popularity. Sure a smaller niche game can be really good, and can even have decent sales. But it's never going to compare to the Call of Duty or EA FC games of the world.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

@@SanderEvers Nintendo games outsell the likes of Call of Duty or EA Sports FC every year and Nintendo’s the only one not laying anyone off, they reported tbeir biggest ever jump in profit and their stock is at its highest ever in their history. So it’s not all doom and gloom, plus Nintendo is the only one I care for although my sympathy only lies with those that have been laid off.

[@veryde_3356]

There's a great video (I forgot the title) talking about smth like the "blockbuster sndrome" in movies. The gist was basically that we used to have 2 large movies a year that nost people could afford watching but every movie wants to be like that now. This leads to higher costs, leading to more revenue needed just to break even. At some point you get diminishing returns, especially since there are so many wanna-be blockbusters that, essentially, no movie is one. The gaming industry might have a similar problem. When it takes small towns to develop the latest AAA title, your revenue needs to be immense just so you can pay them all.

[@xenos_n.]

I can't say that i care about the video game industry. If it crashes, the vast majority of the indie games i like will still be there, in fact, there may be more from devs going indie. I love supporting games with small teams, or even better, little games that are made by one person. I just recently downloaded a great free game and i saw an option to donate to the dev and i immediately did. I like putting money directly in that one Dev's pocket. I know I'm the minority, but I'm not concerned about the industry, because games will never stop, and i don't think huge AAA games are necessary. But it's definitely fascinating to watch the industry to see where it goes.

[@jefftroidvania]

I tweeted that Nintendo made that decision when in financial despair and Microsoft just got a $3 Trillion evaluation after laying off those people

[@AquaTwist_]

As someone who graduated with a Game Design degree in 2022 it’s becoming more difficult to break in, especially with these layoffs happening. It’s really demotivating, and I lost a job I really enjoyed which is infuriating. I can relate to these employees who were recently laid off, and my heart goes out to all of them. Hopefully we all can find jobs we’re satisfied with soon.

[@firebirdstark]

What happened to making fun games and being honest about reporting about games? Oh yeah. All that matters is access and THE MESSAGE

[@caczech]

What's really not helping is that many blindly buy games on name only - be it Madden, Call of Duty, NBA 2K... and so on. Last year was solid for games, yes, but I feel equally dull over the sour notes of layoffs and stale products.

[@JCSA79V]

Worth noting that Iwata's paycut wasn't done from the kindness of his heart. You can't have Mass layoffs in Japan (unless your company is on the brink of bankruptcy), so CEOs take a payout, and try to coerce employees into leaving themselves, etc. A year after his paycut, Nintendo's European branch laid off 300 people.

[@TheHelium999]

Speaks out of my ❤️ thank you for the video!

[@I4get42]

Microsoft recently became the most valuable company in the world. They aren't hurting for money. While there is always more to a story, when Microsoft lays off about 2000 people from its Bethesda /ID, Blizzard-Activision teams, the problem is that the mergers were ever allowed. It isn't new. How are the folks at Lionhead studios doing?

[@carlstevenwilletts]

Layoffs after a merger seem to be inevitable. I would say that Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for their IP, not to ensure the wellbeing of its employees. Is it good for the industry, I don't think so, but most businesses rarely care for what's good for the industry only what is good for themselves.

[@chadbizeau5997]

They basically bought them for King (Candy Crush). That was the moneymaker IP.

[@harrisonwhaley7872]

Excellent discussion and suggestions on how to support the talented individuals who bring us countless hours of joy.

[@plastikloser]

Triple A gaming is. Indies are on fire right now

[@robbertlw9610]

Thank you for making this video! ❣️

[@TylerComptonShow]

Thanks Zion. The tech industry as a whole seems to follow these dramatic boom and bust cycles that leave many people behind. Employers should be more responsible when it comes to sustainable hiring practices.

[@AtotheZness]

Companies and the industry are right sizing. Things were good, people wanted games, people were hired. Companies consolidated and now it’s time for that sweet ROI. In a few years, things will be alright. It’s going to be alright. Make less, make better. Don’t over hire. We can feel bad for the people but can also recognize there are too many people making games.

[@user-ev8hv4ks5k]

All these companies need to stop making these live service games, and do what Nintendo has, focus on fun, innovative, and interesting games. Nowadays each of these games has to be 100+ hours and open world, then a game like hifi rush turns up, a few hours long and just a very interesting game and it sold well.

[@noelsilva8887]

Really all these lay off is because of these mind set of these companies to make multiple players games for live service games instead of what games back in the days was story driven single games. This is why some of these lay off happens and will keep happening.

[@penguinguy2167]

One of the main problems that I think the industry has is an obsession with continuous improvement, wanting every new game to be 10x better than the last one. For example Spider-Man , Sony spent $300 million dollars on that game to even break even they needed to sell 7 million copies. Games shouldn’t be focusing on graphics and making the biggest game ever, they should be focusing on making a game the devs want to make, a game that leaves you thinking about it long after playing it. You don’t need millions of dollars to make such a thing look at Celeste and hollow knight they didn’t have large budgets and are some of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. With a smaller budget for the game they would make a larger profit, meaning they can keep the developers in the company. That’s just my idea of how to fix some of the issues hope all of the developers displaced by the layoffs are able to find a better workplace and are treated fairly.

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

Blame the PC master race gamers for this obsession with graphics it’s one of the reasons why I won’t buy either an Xbox or PlayStation, those consoles are toxic with their fanboys. Not saying Nintendo fans are perfect but most Nintendo fans know that gameplay is the most important aspect of any game which is a big reason why I will be only buying Nintendo consoles from here on out as I adore my Switch.

[@penguinguy2167]

@@Adamtendo_player_1 yeah I play mostly single player games so the toxic community doesn’t affect me, but yeah pc master race and Xbox fanboys tend to be the worst overall.

[@orb1t867]

I recently did an essay on the state of the industry and from what I figured out its only down hill from here. The gaming industry compensated for covid and now have to cut roles. Twitch also cut about 30% of its staff just 2 weeks ago. As for studio sizes and funding. Triple A games are so expensive, god of war Ragnarok costing $200million dollars to make and theres no guarantee its going to sell, in the long run games are growing more popular but aren't as profitable as they were a couple years ago

[@tobybeadman6137]

I don’t think it’s people forgetting to be human, it’s people not caring. The AAA people only see money. So vote with your wallet, as that’s how change happens. Hit them where it hurts. Support good companies with healthy practises, veto bad companies with destructive practises.

[@3up3rn0va]

I have also noticed many people lose their jobs. It’s not just the games industry. It’s every industry. AI is making things better or worse. Normal real people are affected. I’ve heard of people get laid off from their normal jobs for absolutely no reason and with the job market now it’s so hard to get back on your feet. In this digital age it’s hard to see why. Greedy people will always be greedy.

[@tobo1]

It’s sad as we might eventually lose some big talents who might not come back. Same thing happened in the Arts industry in theatres across the UK. The issue is people are greedy and the Xbox game pass doesn’t help. It’s great to see your passion on this Zion! ❤️😊👏👍

[@beauvogames]

Thank you for this video Zion 💚

[@sheeplenk]

Gaming used to be full of enthusiast developers and enthusiast buyers. Once the financial potential became apparent, it became much more about the business aspect. Even a lot of the ground level devs probably saw it as a lucrative career, rather than a passion. If the bubble bursts, I’ll still happily play low to mid budget games if they’re created with care.

[@leeartlee915]

I don’t know what the answer is but I know one thing that is NOT the answer: making games more expensive. Video games are already a luxury item that are very pricey. If they raise the prices too much, the video games industry will reel even worse.

[@sparkypack]

That's true. I became selective since they raised prices. On Nintendo 3DS, I own 55 games. On the Switch, I own 6 games.

[@leeartlee915]

@@sparkypack I mean, the 3DS was already kind of an underpriced system (at $40 a game often). Switch games being $60 is actually fine considering that games in the 90s were often $60 without inflation. Hell, my original copy of Chrono Trigger I bought in 1996 was $80 straight up. Having said that, games were REALLY overpriced back in the 90s. But with the rumblings we’ve heard, if they start charging 70, 80, or even more, I think the game industry is in for a rude awakening. The common person simply can’t pay $100 for one game. It’s just not gonna happen.

[@stewartcrislip7274]

It’s going to get worse if Microsoft is allowed to buy more.

[@PieDivide]

thanks for always striving to be so positive Zion, we're all in this together, as a community.

[@theintrovertedstoner365]

Tunic 🎶

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

5:42 And that's not even counting the caterers and janitors...

[@GTVAS]

Always appreciate the time and work you all do to showcase and speak about the people that make gaming possible. I hope this video reaches all who need to see it.

[@remixisthis]

As game companies get larger and larger they’re large corporate entities beholden to market trends or popular business practices to squeeze profits out every quarter

[@massimofallani]

Maybe i should find a different career instead of becoming a game designer

[@intersexcryptid]

I'm sorry that's the situation you're in. I wish I could say something positive or like, anything, but, from one random person on the internet to another, I'm sorry your dreams seem unachievable.

[@MonkeysTucasTV]

I don’t think you understood the point of this video. There’s no reason to be discouraged. Indie developers have never been more successful. It’s all these greedy companies like Microsoft who buy up these game development studios with no concise plan of creating sustainable and quality games

[@saintlugia]

60% of all the total layoffs in 2023 have happened in January 2024

[@enthused7591]

And are going to increase exponentially throughout the year in every industry. It's not a video game issue, it's an economic collapse that the government guaranteed then they gave out 6 trillion dollars for free over 3 years. That's how socialism works, and that's why 80% of America can barely afford their rent/mortgage right now. Hope we learned something. This is going to rival the great depression.

[@GamerFunOriginallyAarush]

Rough…

[@mockersjayparker813]

I know what I'll say is pessimistic but I wouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years we see another market crash. Yeah I hate the thought of it too but if this type of stuff continues, then I think we're gonna run into something pretty bad. This video is spot on and companies need to remember that even though they're a buisness, they should remember the reason they even came into the industry.

[@roflBeck]

It's probably for the best if it happens. I won't mind, I have plenty of games still.