Board 8 > EA laying off almost 700 employees, ceasing development of licensed games.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Only focusing on owned IPs and sports.

Aren't sports games...licensed? I guess the own the license.

https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1762950814354563400?t=p04jfIj608enUvRtMj6ITw&s=19

AAA Gaming is legitimately not going to last much longer, at least in the West. I don't think this is hyperbole, we're approaching the end.

It would be doing better if they quit with the meddling and caring so much about shareholders and whatnot. Most of the top guys for game studios sound so fucking out of touch with what anyone wants they might as well be trying to make video games for the boomer generation

AAA gaming is not going to die; the institutions in AAA gaming absolutely could fall apart, sure, but big-budget games have a place in the industry and it's only mismanagement that will ultimately kill these companies (if it's possible).

I guess that's probably the better way to put it, yeah. AAA games as we currently know it in the industry is doomed, but as long as the smaller scale stuff lasts something else will form from it.

But, like....EA, Ubisoft, Activision, these players won't be around in 10 years in the same way they are today. Even Microsoft might not be.

Ubisoft seems like the next big pillar to fall at the insane rate they seem to be crumbling. Of course, all it really takes is one decent forward-thinking CEO to step in and turn these companies around, but those upper-level managers are just so out-of-touch.

I guess no more Star Wars games either? Like Star Wars Jedi 3?

This would imply that if it existed, it was cancelled.

What's left of Respawn after this will probably be locked in to just Apex.

AAA games like Elder Scrolls 6 and GTA 6 are already on development schedules of a decade plus and people are shocked that the current generation of consoles are nearing their end because so many big releases were just upscaled remasters. AAA gaming may not die, but it's going to be a very small segment of the market (in number of games, not necessarily revenue) if nothing changes, and that's before we consider mobile gaming.

EAs CEO makes 20 million

I think the licensed IP stuff is the Disney stuff, can imagine the Star Wars license costs a fortune

I'm going to go absolutely insane here and say I'm not ONE HUNDRED PERCENT sure Elder's Scroll VI comes out! I'm gonna still say 95%, but the possibility of it not exists.

I am going to say the same thing about the next Mass Effect. It's EA owned, but I can see it being cut with there being nothing to show yet at all.

GTA is going to sell a billion copies and then they're going to fire 600 people one month after it comes out.

There's no way Microsoft paid billions for Bethesda and doesn't release Elder Scrolls 6. It's Microsoft. They're desperate.

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

There's no way Microsoft paid billions for Bethesda and doesn't release Elder Scrolls 6. It's Microsoft. They're desperate.

But just how much is this going to cost?

Probably over 300 million. Maybe even over 400 million. Maybe higher.

The new exclusive IP they put out for their platform both undersold and underreviewed for what their expectations/hopes were.

People are already questioning the validity of the Xbox as a brand.

Don't get me wrong. It's CRAZY. I DON'T think it will happen. But it's POSSIBLE.

What I think is more likely though is that Microsoft has given up on major exclusivity by then, and launches the game on multiple platforms.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

AAA Gaming is legitimately not going to last much longer, at least in the West. I don't think this is hyperbole, we're approaching the end.

The Crash is finally catching up to us. I tried to warn you all

scarletspeed7 posted...

Ubisoft seems like the next big pillar to fall at the insane rate they seem to be crumbling. Of course, all it really takes is one decent forward-thinking CEO to step in and turn these companies around, but those upper-level managers are just so out-of-touch.

They're already rich, so they dont care.

Huh, this is only 5% of their workforce apparently. They must be pretty big.

https://twitter.com/Andy_VGC/status/1762963728197144752

Respawn's Star Wars FPS cancelled, they're still working on Jedi 3, Black Panther and Iron Man are still being worked on.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

AAA Gaming is legitimately not going to last much longer, at least in the West. I don't think this is hyperbole, we're approaching the end.

yesss, give us an industry dominated by Japanese games

MacArrowny posted...

Huh, this is only 5% of their workforce apparently. They must be pretty big.

https://twitter.com/Andy_VGC/status/1762963728197144752

Respawn's Star Wars FPS cancelled, they're still working on Jedi 3, Black Panther and Iron Man are still being worked on.

yesss, give us an industry dominated by Japanese games

Bad news Sony is firing more people, and a higher percentage, than EA is.

Sony doesn't make AAA Japanese games (other than Gran Turismo, and I don't believe its studio was affected).

Well Sony already closed Japan Studio a couple years ago so it's probably harder for them to find more JP devs to fire

scarletspeed7 posted...

AAA gaming is not going to die; the institutions in AAA gaming absolutely could fall apart, sure, but big-budget games have a place in the industry and it's only mismanagement that will ultimately kill these companies (if it's possible).

It's already happened. The layoffs have caused a brain drain in basically every AAA company, which has completely stalled the big-budget machine. Everyone from leadership to senior talent has been laid off or left the industry. So much time now needs to go back into rebuilding skills and training juniors. It's fine, but it will take a long time and result in a changed industry overall.

People thought the pandemic would mean there would be a 2-3 year drought of games coming out, but it turns out everyone just worked really hard and released a ton of awesome games. But now that devs see how the industry repaid them for those years, the real drought will begin.

I think a Japanese dominated one would be way worse, given that the work culture and pay in the gaming industry there is very subpar compared to NA/Europe

Yeah but domestically prices are still reasonable compared to the NA/EU.

Aren't Nintendo/Square/Capcom meant to have rather good work culture compared to the crunch stories we heard from Poland or for a big Rockstar title?

Nintendo does have pretty high employee satisfaction, but also whats considered normal working environment in Japan would not be considered acceptable in other places so its hard to say for certain how theyre treating their people

Palworld put skull and bones in the dirt and now the whole industry firing everybody lmao

Please, Skull and Bones put Skull and Bones in the dirt

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Nintendo does have pretty high employee satisfaction, but also whats considered normal working environment in Japan would not be considered acceptable in other places so its hard to say for certain how theyre treating their people

They seem to have more job security and retain institutional knowledge at least.

That thing about Iwata cutting his salary to avoid layoffs makes the round sometimes, but that's something that was mandated by Japanese labor laws. The culture may have downsides but they do have some unequivocal advantages.

In fact if you go look at the announcement Sony made the other day it includes some concessions they had to make for non-US regions.

Didn't he reduce his salary much more than necessary though? He halved his while other execs took less of a cut

EA gonna EA

Focusing on their own IPs?

Awesome!

Please make new:
Command and Conquer
Road Rash
Skate
American McGee's Alice
Ultima
SSX
'Strike'
Populous
Syndicate
Burnout
Sim City

And anything else I missed.

Xtlm posted...

SSX

Aw yeah.

Xtlm posted...

Burnout

AW YEAH

WazzupGenius00 posted...

Nintendo does have pretty high employee satisfaction, but also whats considered normal working environment in Japan would not be considered acceptable in other places so its hard to say for certain how theyre treating their people

They may treat employees well enough, but they have a lot more contractors who don't get that same treatment.

Lord_Bob_Bree posted...

They may treat employees well enough, but they have a lot more contractors who don't get that same treatment.

Hmm, I've only seen positives things about HAL and IS. Next Level was happy enough to get bought too

I'd imagine the former employees of Alpha Dream aren't too pleased with them lol

Next Level Games is in Canada. So even if they are doing well, it doesn't really say much about how well things are in Japan.

Sure, which is why I listed two Japanese studios first :p

Xtlm posted...

Please make new:
Command and Conquer
Road Rash
Burnout
Sim City

Yes please.

SimAnt

And more offbeat The Sims spin-offs like Urbz, Castaway, and Medieval.

SimAnt was great