I keep hearing about layoffs, studios being closed and how the industry is troubled. Are companies losing money and sales are poor, or is it the same as Google and other companies laying off people just to pump their stock price and make money despite profitability?
The video game industry is not in crisis, big game publishers are because their goals of infinite growth and profit are in jeopardy, therefore they make more and more unsustainable moves, cuts and cuts and…more cuts. Indie devs are more and more often breaking into the spotlight because AAA game publishers are failing the industry
Just finished “Stray” and it was an amazing game. It was made by two French dudes.
Which honestly is awesome. I’ve played very few AAA games in the last 5 years
I think it is also related to the economy as a whole. While the pandemic was dragging on and on, inflation got much higher and central banks responded by increasing the interest rates. As a result, investors no longer had access to infinite free money.
Turns out, there are lots of companies that relied on constant funding instead of actual revenue. Those companies are undergoing some major changes at the moment.