160°

'I Stopped Believing in Myself': Game Developers Share the Human Impact of Over a Year

Mass layoffs happen for all kinds of reasons, be it because of a bad financial bet, a failed game, a deal falling through, poor planning, or any number of other things.

BrainSyphoned55d ago

Fuck these people. They made way too much money and deserved to be laid off. Lie in a gutter or go fucking work a retail job.

"Both times I felt incredibly gutted," one person said. "The first time, it felt like a reality of capitalism that I was expecting, but the second being so close to the first, it was like, 'We really are just cogs in the machine.'"

SegaSaturn66955d ago

Layoffs happen all the time, nobody is immune, im sure their expertise will come in handy as sandwich artists.

Popsicle55d ago

Serious question, why are you angry at these people?

isarai55d ago

Correction Publishers "made way too much money" Devs can make good money but whether the game makes millions or billions their pay is the same unless they are given bonuses based on sales which is not everyone.

thorstein55d ago

User name checks out.

These in the chair devs just earned over 400 million dollars in profit for their company on 1 title: Spider Man 2.

They should not be laid off. They should be given bonuses.

You should seek help.

Unknown_Gamer579455d ago

Implying you think the people getting laid off are the ones making the big bucks? I think I can spot who doesn’t know how capitalism works.

Also, even if they did well for themselves, I fail to see how providing us with entertainment should be punished like some kind of crime.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 55d ago
jznrpg55d ago

Being a cog in a machine is almost every job in a corporate workplace.

ShwaaMan55d ago

The f*** is the matter with the comments on here? What the f*** is the matter with you people?
Stop excusing everything away because “capitalism”. It’s the same bs when you people say “it’s just business it’s not personal”.

Like, somehow saying this quote excuses every bad behavior in the world when at its core this phrase is just your excuse for being a big piece of s*** because “money” is your God. I am so sick of listening to you a**holes come on comment sections acting like everyone else is stupid besides you. We ALL get it dips***s, it doesn’t make it better and it sure as hell STILL doesn’t make sense. Why don’t you people have any compassion? Are you sociopaths? Is that too big of a word for you?

Popsicle55d ago

I believe it goes back to the old cliche of “misery loves company.” The lack of compassion is most likely coming from those who have not been able to find “success” or are generally unfulfilled. It makes them feel better when they see someone experiencing hardship or a lack of success. It’s sad and unfortunately part of the human condition.

ShwaaMan55d ago

This is absolutely 100%
Thanks for sharing, it’s early morning and I clicked on the article and I see 3/3 comments excusing this away and just being plain old fashioned A holes about it and it ticked me off. I digress.

ralphito8455d ago (Edited 55d ago )

You got right. Layoffs never be a good thing in any industry and it's not a good situation to be confronted for any kind of employees, cause they have family to feed as well ( like everyone). But if someone enjoying their self about that it's a very bad thing and a heartless attitude because the developers are human.

Sometimes loosing a job can make someone being depressed, making suicide, loosing his wife , loosing his house and many more.

anast55d ago

Some of it is that, but you can't deny the lack of action all these developers took while others around them were getting replaced.

Unknown_Gamer579455d ago

Yeah, well, those who wish ill on others just because their lives suck are unlikely to get any more sympathy from others than they give. I’m not going to say anyone deserves misery, but if misery wants good company, they really ought to be nicer to people.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 55d ago
aaronaton55d ago

Sorry but this latest generation of game developers are simply not good enough. The talented people are now in upper management or even retired.
Thai latest generation just wanna get paid a shit load for doing bang average work.

anast55d ago

Uneasy reasoning. Some people that do the job can't tell whether or not their work is good, which is why they need outside assessments. Moreover, if only the people that work in those jobs have a voice, then the consumers don't have a voice. Imagine having to stay silent because you are not a president. Any way, a similar line of thinking has been happening in the academic journal industry. This is why most published papers are tripe nowadays.

thorstein55d ago (Edited 55d ago )

They are "not good enough." They just earned 400 million (Spider Man 2) in profit for their company. They got laid off as a reward. What is good enough in your book?

stupidusername55d ago

@aaronaton
Lol, that’s a whole lot of bs. How do you even believe that?

Umb55d ago

To be fair there are some really talented people in their field, but layoff happens in tough economic conditions. No industry is really immune to this challenges, maybe except politician, who for some weird reason gets pay rises!?

I'm sure there are also pleanty of people who should not be in their roles because I've seen some really questionable people get roles that they are clearly should not be in.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 55d ago
anast55d ago

It sucks they are struggling, but as their coworkers were getting picked apart, they did nothing but step in and get that money, and now it's their turn. The same way they took a spot from someone else is the same way they are going to be replaced.

Show all comments (22)
290°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
darthv721d 12h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle23h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic188120h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio20h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning7715h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga23h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv729h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

neutralgamer19924h ago

Darth

30% physical sales: yet Phil and xbox division are in a rush go give up on that 30%. they don't have any right to give up any piece of the pie since the control such a little of the pie to begin with

also, the market is clearly speaking that the model Xbox is pushing isn't working right now the keyword being right now. you are right about freedom to play anywhere so i hope they put their games on steam

shinoff218322h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga21h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan17h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit9h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus2315h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv7215h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

Chevalier4h ago

@Darth

You should stop parroting metrics like an idiot without context.

"Xbox content and services revenue grew 62% in Q3 from a year earlier, “driven by 61 points of net impact” from the purchase of the third-party video game giant, Microsoft said."

61 of the 62% was from their merger so net increase is ONLY 1%

https://www.mesaonline.org/...

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 4h ago
purple1011d 1h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos1d 1h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-15h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac1d ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad1d ago (Edited 1d ago )

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1011d ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos23h ago(Edited 23h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic22h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead15h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 15h ago
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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein1d 11h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno1d 7h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k41d 6h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson1d 5h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu1d 6h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson1d 5h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

120°

This Gigabyte GPU is now among the cheapest RTX 4090s on Amazon after a hefty deal

On Amazon, you can't get an RTX 4090 for less than this one from Gigabyte, which now offers great value after an eye-catching April deal.