Freedom Gate Co.
Banned
This has become a major problem. SquareEnix, Electronic Arts, Activision, Namco Bandai, Ubisoft, Tencent, Take Two, THQ Nordic, Zenimax, are just a few of the Megagiants in the gaming world, the Megagiants having at least 20 companies or more under them, several acquired.
The reason why this is a problem is because Major gaming corporations are destroying two key things that keep the industry well:
1. The Mid-sized developer
2. Game Creativity
These companies are huge, but they are still companies that need to make a profit off their software or other ventures. This means room for risk is put aside in favor of searching for the next big checklist hit. We've seen checklist style games throughout this generation more than any other, when developers and their publishers follow a formula that plays it safe to create minimal risk. This of course, effects game creativity.
If you've been wondering why many of the biggest games are very similar to each other in how they are structured, even though they are in completely different genres, that's an example of what checklist development does. Sometimes, you basically make the same game with different aesthetics. For example, Watch Dogs, no matter how much you may have enjoyed the game, uses the same design checklist as Assassin's Creed.
But let me get to the point. These big gaming corporations are causing less unique ideas in the marketplace which leads to lack of variety on the store shelf. Before, we required the medium and smaller sized companies to even things out, But now, these large corporations have been buying or merging with other companies left and right for two generations now. There aren't that many studios left, and the death of the medium and small tier company has crippled not just the variety in releases, but new Ideas.
Some people will point to Indie gaming studios, but this actually doesn't come close to solving a problem. In fact, it's part of a new issue that has materialized since Indies rise in 2008. Things have been rigged against the Indie developer. At first, indie developers could run on their own as long as their small projects paid the bills. But now requirements and costs FORCE indie developers in most cases to seek a publisher. If these indie studios end up being successes over time, the publisher usually scoops them up. This only contributes to the problem and does nothing to solve it.
Big gaming corporations also have one more major problem that really negatively impacts the industry. I have already went over how the big corporations are buying or merging with many studios, as well as how they don't focus on risk and unique ideas. But I haven't really told you just how much more of an issue it can be.
If these gaming corporations acquiring all these studios released them back into the market, the market could heal. The trouble is that many of the companies acquired over the years no longer exist. Major gaming corporations have killed hundreds of developers for not meeting their internal, often nonsensical, expectations. Even if there's clearly potential. This habit of them acquiring and then killing these studios is why talent and unique ideas have been severely crippled. Sure, sometimes a major corporation will partner with a smaller studio with a unique idea or two, but then eventually they will acquire that studio and those unique games are most of the time gone.
The importance of digital platforms allowing small developers to release cool new ideas is quickly reversing in the opposite direction due to new regulations making it hard for the small indie developer to succeed without a publisher. Even major mid-sized studios, with only modest finances, also need to look for a publisher as they no longer have the ability to stay afloat. I predict the next generation to be the most damaging yet for the industry. I don't see how companies like SNK, Sega, 505, and more will be able to stay a float without some kind of acquisition or merger.
The state of the gaming industry is in pretty bad shape. We have had a significant number of studios die the last two gens. Often by these mega corporations themselves. I will admit, sometimes it is actually the acquired studios fault they end up closing and not the buyer, but that doesn't off-set the hundreds of dead companies where it wasn't their fault.
If we want to see amazing talent, variety, and new game design ideas again, to see the gaming industry healthy again, these big corporations have to be broken up. We need anti-trust limits on how many studios are allowed to be acquired, and we need to regulate the business models these companies use which leads to acquired studios developing checklist style games, only to be closed down a bit later, which always results in terminations or layoffs. Over 1 million layoffs and terminations put together worldwide in the last 2 generations! In addition to this, we are seeing more unfinished games as well.
Now some may not necessarily agree with me on this issue. The way the industry has been run the last 2 generations has given us the biggest audience of gamers we've ever had in number. But it's also important to realize that this isn't sustainable either, at least outside of mobile. We've just had numerous releases the last 6 months showing that this isn't sustainable. We've also had a hardware example, the Wii, showing that we can't rely on part of that large audience.
If nothing is done, and the cycle continues we will have a select few companies controlling the majority of the market, much of the output will be checklist style games, and the amount of design and genre variety will be near non existent. At that point there will only be so much these companies can do to monetize consumers, and the industry will implode with mobile being the only area unscathed.
We are already seeing massive signs of unsustainable execution currently today. It's definitely not looking good for the near future if things don't change.
The reason why this is a problem is because Major gaming corporations are destroying two key things that keep the industry well:
1. The Mid-sized developer
2. Game Creativity
These companies are huge, but they are still companies that need to make a profit off their software or other ventures. This means room for risk is put aside in favor of searching for the next big checklist hit. We've seen checklist style games throughout this generation more than any other, when developers and their publishers follow a formula that plays it safe to create minimal risk. This of course, effects game creativity.
If you've been wondering why many of the biggest games are very similar to each other in how they are structured, even though they are in completely different genres, that's an example of what checklist development does. Sometimes, you basically make the same game with different aesthetics. For example, Watch Dogs, no matter how much you may have enjoyed the game, uses the same design checklist as Assassin's Creed.
But let me get to the point. These big gaming corporations are causing less unique ideas in the marketplace which leads to lack of variety on the store shelf. Before, we required the medium and smaller sized companies to even things out, But now, these large corporations have been buying or merging with other companies left and right for two generations now. There aren't that many studios left, and the death of the medium and small tier company has crippled not just the variety in releases, but new Ideas.
Some people will point to Indie gaming studios, but this actually doesn't come close to solving a problem. In fact, it's part of a new issue that has materialized since Indies rise in 2008. Things have been rigged against the Indie developer. At first, indie developers could run on their own as long as their small projects paid the bills. But now requirements and costs FORCE indie developers in most cases to seek a publisher. If these indie studios end up being successes over time, the publisher usually scoops them up. This only contributes to the problem and does nothing to solve it.
Big gaming corporations also have one more major problem that really negatively impacts the industry. I have already went over how the big corporations are buying or merging with many studios, as well as how they don't focus on risk and unique ideas. But I haven't really told you just how much more of an issue it can be.
If these gaming corporations acquiring all these studios released them back into the market, the market could heal. The trouble is that many of the companies acquired over the years no longer exist. Major gaming corporations have killed hundreds of developers for not meeting their internal, often nonsensical, expectations. Even if there's clearly potential. This habit of them acquiring and then killing these studios is why talent and unique ideas have been severely crippled. Sure, sometimes a major corporation will partner with a smaller studio with a unique idea or two, but then eventually they will acquire that studio and those unique games are most of the time gone.
The importance of digital platforms allowing small developers to release cool new ideas is quickly reversing in the opposite direction due to new regulations making it hard for the small indie developer to succeed without a publisher. Even major mid-sized studios, with only modest finances, also need to look for a publisher as they no longer have the ability to stay afloat. I predict the next generation to be the most damaging yet for the industry. I don't see how companies like SNK, Sega, 505, and more will be able to stay a float without some kind of acquisition or merger.
The state of the gaming industry is in pretty bad shape. We have had a significant number of studios die the last two gens. Often by these mega corporations themselves. I will admit, sometimes it is actually the acquired studios fault they end up closing and not the buyer, but that doesn't off-set the hundreds of dead companies where it wasn't their fault.
If we want to see amazing talent, variety, and new game design ideas again, to see the gaming industry healthy again, these big corporations have to be broken up. We need anti-trust limits on how many studios are allowed to be acquired, and we need to regulate the business models these companies use which leads to acquired studios developing checklist style games, only to be closed down a bit later, which always results in terminations or layoffs. Over 1 million layoffs and terminations put together worldwide in the last 2 generations! In addition to this, we are seeing more unfinished games as well.
Now some may not necessarily agree with me on this issue. The way the industry has been run the last 2 generations has given us the biggest audience of gamers we've ever had in number. But it's also important to realize that this isn't sustainable either, at least outside of mobile. We've just had numerous releases the last 6 months showing that this isn't sustainable. We've also had a hardware example, the Wii, showing that we can't rely on part of that large audience.
If nothing is done, and the cycle continues we will have a select few companies controlling the majority of the market, much of the output will be checklist style games, and the amount of design and genre variety will be near non existent. At that point there will only be so much these companies can do to monetize consumers, and the industry will implode with mobile being the only area unscathed.
We are already seeing massive signs of unsustainable execution currently today. It's definitely not looking good for the near future if things don't change.