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[onQ123]

Is this just the people at the top cutting the fat so they will have more for themselves or is it fear of a shift in the industry?

 

[Catphish]

I’d like to think it’s a result of consumers getting wise to the same bullshit tactics and products we’ve been continuously fed for the last decade, and voting with their wallets, but who the fuck am I kidding.

 

[onQ123]

I’d like to think it’s a result of consumers getting wise to the same bullshit tactics and products we’ve been continuously fed for the last decade, and voting with their wallets, but who the fuck am I kidding.

But as of now games are still selling really well

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Is this just the people at the top cutting the fat so they will have more for themselves or is it fear of a shift in the industry?

Everyone overbought thinking gaming had nowhere to go but up during the pandemic, but now people are doing other things and the revenues are going back to pre-covid levels. That would be fine and dandy, but combined with high interests rates and longer game development times... it's a bad combination... when interest is up and sales are down... what do you expect?

 

[Wildebeest]

Free money from investors vs not so much free money from investors. Part of this is people realising that the pandemic surge in players was not sustainable growth.

 

[BennyBlanco]

They thought covid numbers would last forever

 

[Hudo]

Is this just the people at the top cutting the fat so they will have more for themselves or is it fear of a shift in the industry?

They had a pretty big growth overall during the pandemic. And investors thought that this was somehow sustainable... until it wasn't (which anyone with common sense would've known). So now everyone tries to desperately save/make money in order to sustain that growth.

 

[Topher]

Industry overvalued itself. Time for a correction.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

They’re all downsizing to figure out how to accommodate AI technologies. Some are in financial distress, but nothing so severe to warrant the cuts they’re inflicting.

 

[Rat Rage]

Greed and capitalism combined with a gaming population that's largely fucking stupid is a match made in heaven for the overall quality decline of the gaming industry as a whole.

 

[Pop]

Need to trim down because AI is about to take a lot of jobs

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

Less talent in the industry and greedy corporations that only care about money combined with a plethora of ignorant and nonchalant gamers who will accept practically anything the corporations spit out.

 

[Lord Malachite]

A combination of many factors.

Interest rates are absurdly high making the cost of getting funding too much in a lot of cases. People are engaging with games less now that most people are working in person again instead of remotely and a sense of "normalcy" has returned.

On top of these things, you have services like Gamepass and PS+ Extra/Premium eroding game sales because why spend $70 on a game when you can subscribe to a giant library of them instead? Not to mention the market is saturated with games to play and consumers are spoiled for choice. Most people don't need to run to a retailer or digital store to purchase new titles when their subscription catalogs and backlogs are overflowing.

Unchecked inflation is changing how people spend. Prices are skyrocketing and wages are not. When people are spending entire paychecks just to put food on the table, gas in their cars, and keep the lights on, spending on wholly unnecessary things like gaming is the first thing to be stripped out of the budget.

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Less talent in the industry and greedy corporations that only care about money combined with a plethora of ignorant and nonchalant gamers who will accept practically anything the corporations spit out.

I'm not sure it's less talent overall, I'd guess talent is spread too thin across the industry because there are so many games/studios/developments/devices/platforms going these days. The industry is the biggest it has ever been and growing still, it results in mediocrity from and for the masses.

EDIT: Also we just came through the pandemic and most gaming/IT companies reported record profits, so now see some contraction of that unnatural skewed event.

 

[onQ123]

My guess is AI replacing people or just the fear of the industry going the streaming route & not being able to recoup from large projects.


It's weird that all this is going on while games are selling at record rates .

 

[Three]

My guess is AI replacing people or just the fear of the industry going the streaming route & not being able to recoup from large projects.


It's weird that all this is going on while games are selling at record rates .

Are they though?

 

[Danjin44]

My guess is AI replacing people

Spoiler: God help us!

 

[onQ123]

There is no signs of sales declining but big companies cutting jobs to have bigger profits SMH.

 

[gaming_again]

Interest rates going up. These companies weren't healthy. They just ran on free money. Interest rates drive every change like this.

 

[gaming_again]

A combination of many factors.

Interest rates are absurdly high making the cost of getting funding too much in a lot of cases. People are engaging with games less now that most people are working in person again instead of remotely and a sense of "normalcy" has returned.

On top of these things, you have services like Gamepass and PS+ Extra/Premium eroding game sales because why spend $70 on a game when you can subscribe to a giant library of them instead? Not to mention the market is saturated with games to play and consumers are spoiled for choice. Most people don't need to run to a retailer or digital store to purchase new titles when their subscription catalogs and backlogs are overflowing.

Unchecked inflation is changing how people spend. Prices are skyrocketing and wages are not. When people are spending entire paychecks just to put food on the table, gas in their cars, and keep the lights on, spending on wholly unnecessary things like gaming is the first thing to be stripped out of the budget.

Not absurdly high - just back to normal. And inflation in the US is like 3.9%. This is just back to how things were before the reaction to 2008/9 distorted everything.

 

[Alebrije]

Industry it's just on it's mature stage

 

[GHG]

There is no signs of sales declining but big companies cutting jobs to have bigger profits SMH.

One word: margins.

Since covid:

Number of employees - up
Liabilities - up
Cost of doing business - up

Something had to give.

 

[StueyDuck]

My guess is AI replacing people or just the fear of the industry going the streaming route & not being able to recoup from large projects.


It's weird that all this is going on while games are selling at record rates .

I don't think ai actively caused any of this.

But it's certainly going to become the solution going forward.

And why shouldn't it . Ai can be a tool that is supplemental, not a complete replacement.

If ND can get out TLoU3 with only 200 people at a fraction of the time at a far lower budget then why shouldn't they.

 

[Success]

It's AI.

Companies are cutting now in anticipating of AI productivity gains.

People talking about COVID and games not selling are too myopic in thier thinking. Games are selling and COVID has little to do with it.

Anybody that wants to talk about this topic in depth, PM. It is a topic I am fascinated about.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

It's AI.

Companies are cutting now in anticipating of AI productivity gains.

People talking about COVID and games not selling are too myopic in thier thinking. Games are selling and COVID has little to do with it.

Anybody that wants to talk about this topic in depth, PM. It is a topic I am fascinated about.

Responsible companies don't massively lay off employees until future productivity gains are guaranteed.

 

[WitchHunter]

It's AI.

Companies are cutting now in anticipating of AI productivity gains.

People talking about COVID and games not selling are too myopic in thier thinking. Games are selling and COVID has little to do with it.

Anybody that wants to talk about this topic in depth, PM. It is a topic I am fascinated about.

Oh noes. It's the regular thing companies do when they want some air. Reduce the workforce.

 

[Success]

Responsible companies don't massively lay off employees until future productivity gains are guaranteed.

Gaming companies have used AI for decades, they understand and can project the current and potential AI gains better than most industries.

Therefore they have a better understanding of needing to remove the excess capacity now.

 

[Thanati]

I wonder how things like Gamepass has affected overall sales.

 

[DragonNCM]

Gaming is in declining quality past 3 years & that is true reflection from oversaturated market with game developers who don't care about gamers & their vision is only to make quick money. Most of today studios lost passion to make grate games & only direction they are heading is "make a game where they can grab most money in shortest time "
Once grate studios like Blizzard, Ubisoft Montreal, Psygnosis, Crystal Dynamics, Bioware and many more can't even develop any new game.

 

[Dorfdad]

I believe it’s a combination of things you’re now starting to see the effects of two years of lockdowns from Covid. You’re also starting to see the effects of rapid inflation. Everything is costing more and more and more people want more and more salaries, more benefits and consumers don’t want prices to raise for anything in order for these businesses to stay in business they have to make cuts and the easiest way to do that is reduce workforce which cost them the most..

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Gaming companies have used AI for decades, they understand and can project the current and potential AI gains better than most industries.

Therefore they have a better understanding of needing to remove the excess capacity now.

The kind of AI we've been seeing in the last few years hasn't existed for decades.

 

[MrRibeye]

Can confirm it's not AI, but result of poor management who made decisions over the past few years based on numbers and spreadsheets when they should have listened to creative leads instead.

 

[IAmRei]

I think we still going well, but c19 made mainstream people spend much in blast and pique interest of riches. And the riches spent investment in crazy. Then c19 ended, mainstream party is ended, game is return to their pre 19 state, and the riches see it not good and cut the fat. Then economic hard times put the nail in the coffin to the bubble party and... Here we are...

But who i am, just an enthusiast, knowing a little here. Just saying my though.

It might be wrong. And there are better explanation above by other GAF members

 

[Shut0wen]

Pandemic was the golden age for companys now its dropped back to normal so over spending has now hit them due to high interest rates, nothing to do with ai