Topic: Games Industry Death Watch 2010-present

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://kotaku.com/5661071/singularity-game-developer-hit-with-layoffs

[TJ Spyke]

Robomodo (developer of Tony Hawk: Ride and Tony Hawk: Shred) president John Tsui has confirmed that the studio have cut some employees. He didn't confirm how many, but Kotaku is saying it's 30-60 people. There are rumors the studio may shut down all-together because they have no other games announced right now and apparently Activision Blizzard have taken the Tony Hawk franchise away from them after the terrible sales and critical reception of their first Hawk game.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/tony-hawk-developer-hit-with-layoffs/

[BlackNMild2k1]

http://www.vooks.net/story-19656-Update-Krome-Studios-to-close-on-Monday.html

[broodwars]

http://www.vooks.net/story-19656-Update-Krome-Studios-to-close-on-Monday.html

I wonder if this means that Blade Kitten will be taken off XBLA and PSN, since its studio will be gone.      Sure, the game didn't look all that hot, but at the right price I was going to check that one out.

[KDR_11k]

Nah, they'll probably sell the rights to that and someone else will be making the money people spend on it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Report: NBA Elite Being Moved to Tiburon, EA Canada Hit by Layoffs (~100 people axed)
http://www.1up.com/news/report-nba-elite-moved-tiburon

Source: EA 'Roll-Offs' Lead to Cuts at EA Canada and EA Black Box; As Many as 100 Affected
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/66215?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[MaryJane]

I didn't read all the posts on here so maybe someone else made these points but there are two things that are causing layoffs everywhere in every industry.

1. The recession has taught companies that they can do more with less

2. We're actually starting to see technology take over for people's jobs, which contributes to my first point.

I think all of this is less a Game Industry Death Watch, than the same kind of restructuring that's going on everywhere. Unless I missed somewhere that viable IP's are being canceled, I believe this to be the case.

[BlackNMild2k1]

considering EA conbined two devs that worked on seperate things, and then their refresh of the NBA LIVE series (NBA Elite) was a buggy mess from hell and NBA Jam got unassociated with it. Not to mention that now EA doesn't have a NBA simulation game to go with this seasons NBA season since NBA Elite has been put on hold indefinitely and I think we all know the real reason why that studio is getting so much fat trimmed.

we can pretend it's because of the economy or that computer are making the games themselves now, but the fact still remains that there are enormous budget games that are underperforming all across the industry and good people are losing their jobs and studios are closing left and right since this generation has started.

coincidence? maybe. but then again, maybe not.


I think it has more to do with HD development in a time where money is tighter due to the down worldwide economy and the value of the dollar having dropped like a rock.
hard times everywhere and pockets zipped up on the consumer side at the same time that big money was being spent on the retail side. bad timing and bad investments.

[noname2200]

I think it has more to do with HD development in a time where money is tighter due to the down worldwide economy and the value of the dollar having dropped like a rock.
hard times everywhere and pockets zipped up on the consumer side at the same time that big money was being spent on the retail side. bad timing and bad investments.

I'm inclined to agree, but what does that say about the future when the next generation is going to be even more expensive, and 3DS games will probably dwarf DS games in terms of development costs?

[BlackNMild2k1]

Since the investments have already been made and 3DS games will probably cost no more than Wii games of today (which are much cheaper than then HD games still), I think devs should be fine with dev cost on the 3DS.

Assuming the Wii2 is in the range of PS360 plus a little more and PS360 will likely try to stick around for another 3+ years if possible (if Move & Kinect don't bomb), then dev cost probably shouldn't move much on the console front unless things get cheaper from better engines and more know-how.
Like MJ said, they are being forced to do more with less, and the more they get to know the hardware, the easier it is to get the results they were aiming for.

[noname2200]

Since the investments have already been made and 3DS games will probably cost no more than Wii games of today (which are much cheaper than then HD games still), I think devs should be fine with dev cost on the 3DS.

The underlined is my main concern.  Wii development costs are supposed to be just a fraction of HD development costs, but that still translates into several million dollars a peice.  The DS, I understood, averaged under two million per game.  I think the rising tide is going to swallow up far too many small and even mid-sized developers soon, and that saddens me.  I wish we could adopt a more PC-like model, where games with very basic presentations are still embraced by the public if the quality is there (think of how Minecraft thrived next to Starcraft II, for instance).  For some reason though, that idea doesn't seem to float much in the console space...

[BlackNMild2k1]

Not every game has to hit the budget ceiling, and as you can see, some devs have gotten fairly good results in a relatively short time on the 3DS, so I expect dev cost to average around the cost of a mid level GC game or little more than High level DS games(since the techniques are familiar and alot of the effects are hardwired). And don't forget about the 3DSware market where more simple games will hopefully thrive thanks to lower overhead and digital distro.

[Stratos]

Plus all of the HD tech and tools are already in place. They were already bought. That cost won't be repeated for games down the line.

[MaryJane]

I'm assuming it was a toungue-in-cheek comment, but it's not that computers are are making the games themselves, but when you can use the Unreal engine for every game you make, a lot the 'blanks' are filled in, and you no longer need 3-5 low-level developers to do that grunt work.

I agree that big budgets/bad sales are a factor, but that problem existed last-gen as well, so it can't be the only or even the leading factor.

Games are still selling like hotcakes, but the number of 'hotcake' games has declined, and I honestly think that's more because of bad/uninspired game design than people tightening budgets.

Also, Iwata said the 3DS game development is going to approach Wii costs, that's not something he would say lightly, and I wouldn't presume to know about game development for the 3DS (or any system) than president of Nintendo.

Edit: Ignore the last paragraph I misread BnM's post, but the point is still valid so I'm leaving it in.

[BlackNMild2k1]

it was a tongue in cheek comment and also it's not just big budget/bad sales, but bigger budgets need bigger sales just to break even. simply selling the same amount as a last gen game but using 3X the budget is not gonna get you a profit in lots of cases.

[TJ Spyke]

It's been confirmed that Square Enix developer IO Interactive has cut some staff, with unconfirmed reports saying the number is around 30. IO Interactive is best known for working on the Hitman games, but they also developed the Kane & Lynch games. The studio also layed off 35 people back in March and it's rumored that they have canceled a game they were working on.

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/kane--lynch-developer-confirms-layoffs/

[Shaymin]

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to put this, but Craig Harris is leaving IGN effective this Friday. Shut the lights on IGN Nintendo, I guess.

http://www.ign.com/blogs/craig-ign/2010/11/15/saying-goodbye/

[TJ Spyke]

IGN's Nintendo coverage has already declined in quailty.

[Caliban]

Awwww that's a shame.

[ShyGuy]

Adios Craig, you were the last of the good ones.

[KDR_11k]

He was the only one on Gamescoop who didn't sound like a total douche.

[Peachylala]

IGN's Nintendo coverage has already declined in quailty.

...it was never that high of quality to begin with...

[BlackNMild2k1]

Rumor from GAF

Just heard today that Bizarre Creations have closed. All 200 staff are made redundant.

No, there are no links at the moment..

A sad day

[Dirk Temporo]

It's BS because Blur was awesome, and the only reason they're getting closed now is because Blood Stone tanked.

[broodwars]

Activision closes Budcat Creations and lays off QA employees
 
Well, Activision's on a roll, lately, it seems with studio closings.  This one worked on the Wii and PS2 ports of Guitar Hero and Band Hero.  According to the article, that's approximately 88 employees gone.  Looks like probably the death of the music genre for the time being, killed by Activision over the past few years.
 

It's BS because Blur was awesome, and the only reason they're getting closed now is because Blood Stone tanked.

Unfortunately, I never got a chance to play Blur (I don't care for multiplayer-only demos), but the game looked decent if not as good as my favorite Racing game of the year, Split/Second.  What I've seen of Blood Stone from Giant Bomb's Quick Look, though, was not encouraging.