I heavily debated about making this post, since there are other news outlets that are covering it a lot better than I ever could. But not only that, how this is a “no shit, I saw this coming for YEARS!!” moment (and there’s really nothing we can do about it).. except I didn’t realize just how bad it was going to get.
From my POV, this would mean shittier games with more microtransactions. But never did I once think just how low these game companies would go, to make a profit.
–
One of the latest sleazeball moves, is firing a small percentage of your ‘lesser’ workforce in order to make more profit, all to please the black suits that smoke with money-lined cigars (who are backing your business), while you yourself gets a raise.
WTF?!?! How is this LEGAL at this day and age!? … Oh right, because our own fucking government is corrupted, and has been since the ’80’s!
Activision-Blizzard is just one of what will be the eventual collapse of the AAA industry, firing 800 non-game development workers (and making big profits afterward). They don’t give a fuck if this 8% of their workforce now doesn’t know how in the fuck they (and their families) are going to survive. And my thoughts go out to them.
Now as upsetting as this makes you feel, there is a lot more devilish work behind the scenes. The backers (the ones that say “I will give you so and so money, but I want it paid back in full”).. see a game that is doing really well, and want more. For example, EA being full of corporate donors, releasing Battlefield 5 apparently “failed below expectations” (when it was actually making a lot of money)… it wasn’t making enough, according to their investors.
And whenever you get an investor to back out, knowing they can’t leach off of that company, this makes the company freak the fuck out (and try to protect its remaining investors). Case in point, why innocent workers suffer by being axed.
And worse than that, CEOs are getting a raise (just for existing). Though, you have CEOs like Nintendo who were offered the same deal, only to turn it down. That right there, is the only hope we have left; that there are CEOs that actually care about the quality of their games, and are willing to say “NO” to a raise they don’t deserve.
–
What’s worse, this isn’t just AAA gaming that’s collapsing under its own weight, but shipping businesses such as Amazon, who are giving their delivery drivers less and less of a tip for these fast shipping orders. Which explains why it’s been taking longer to receive a package this year, than in previous years.
Like myself.. around 95% of the time, I get the order a day before it shows it’ll ship. But this year, these orders are coming on the day they say they’ll be shipped, and much, much later than usual. So obviously, something is going on. Though I think it’s the fact they’re tired of delivering to my house as my mother orders a lot of old cartoons/movies on DVD that you can’t find anywhere.
.
There is no ‘if’ this will get worse, it will, until we have an eventful economic collapse that makes money useless.. which is why Bitcoin is still a thing. Makes me wonder, if it would eventually turn into the ‘credit’ (that pretty much every space-based game uses as its currency).
This is why Inde gaming should be the future; games that have a small development
team (or just a single dev), who aren’t being pressured by corporate donors.. and actually care for the quality of their game.
But as for something like Amazon, ordering less items would help the company realize they need to care more about their drivers… but I don’t see this happening. It will require media attention, before any action happens.