Is the gaming industry getting even less stable?
May 26, 2019
14 Comments
I know that EA, Blizzard used to be the most stable companies in the gaming industry -- almost like the government job of gaming. With the layoffs at Blizzard this year and all the drama happening -- Do you think that the gaming industry is becoming less stable? What factors do you think are affecting the industry?
comments
If a Fortnite style business model drives development. Then gamers are shortchanged because developers are less willing to take risks.
The real savior will be Game Pass/PlayStation Now. If the major players get gamers on a guaranteed revenue model. Then their only goal is to create great content so people want to stay in that eco system.
Over the last decade, there has been a significant increase in mobile and indie gaming especially with the rise in "Early Access" releases.
This, combined with the saturation of major franchises (Madden, FIFA, Fallout, etc) has meant that incumbents are facing a more uncertain future.
For every RDR2, there will be a dozen or so Anthems.
In addition, few companies are really investing in their own engines over leveraging Unreal or Unity or Cryengine. This probably reduces some of the demand for talent relative to what might historically be required.
Whats more, the emphasis on monetization means that game mechanics will get simpler leading to more "streamlining."
Gaming jobs have historically have been fairly exploitative given that they're looking for "gamers" to give them a discount to work there. Its likely to get worse.
☝🏼Everything up here is true. The “gamers discount” is especially accurate.