I'm bringing this up because of the latest news that Bungie is stopping live support of Destiny 2 after the next update, probably to desperately focus on Marathon. But you combine it with:
• Ubisoft circling the drain
• A game getting review bombed to hell as a link to Anita was found
• Shift Up has abandoned Sony publication just as Sony desperately try to rename woke game Fairgame$ to salvage ANY return
• Asian studios cutting ties to western studios in general
It does feel like we are reaching the endgame now where it will be 'purge the left or die' at a lot of these studios, it's just a matter of is there anything left to save in some of them?
I certainly hope so. The more painful and far-reaching the crash is going to be the better.
I don't think they can "purge the left". That ideology is too far ingrained in developers, executives, marketing, etc. Plus, the quality of developers will continue to decline as the jeetification continues.
Best situation is a 'break off' then like that new studio that formed from ex CDProjekt Red guys?
Don't really see too much of a future there. Either they're explicitly anti-left which means everyone in the industry will be out to get them. Or they're fairly normie and will eventually get subverted, like the Kingdom Come devs.
I definitely agree. There are far too many hardliners of their religion still employed all over the industry. Even indie games are filled with them.
Feels like the only shot the bigger companies have is to avoid chasing all the money, and return to the old model of some profit being good enough.
I do think what will remain will mostly be the series games--e.g. the FIFA, Madden, NBA, Forzas, etc., a few live service games that are actually popular in their time, and an every few years live service they try to push.
Although I do think there will still be a push to release propaganda flops, because the money will keep being put there in illicit ways. Everything else will mostly be Asia as far as big devs go.
Most investors are index plebs nowadays, and the feds will never let Line Go Down. Why not soak 401(k)s for some nepobaby jobs?
Most investors aren't good enough to be anything but index plebs. Why would you set your money on fire if you can't even get some lulz out of by burning down a hedge fund ala GameStop? Just throw it all in a general market fund and insulate it against inflation. Not like keeping your money in a savings account will do you any good? Yeah, get that 3.5% interest while real inflation flirts with double digits. Real smart money right there.
I was talking more about the moral hazard of letting corpos get free retirement money every month from gormless normies who don't care that they're investing in absolute dogshit as long as Index Go Up.
With everyone in index funds, everyone is trying to game the index. You have the orange shabbos goy trying to pump the stock market up every week, and now Elon trying to sell his bag to retail investors with the SpaceX IPO.
I think most people just don't want their money to decay every year. Are you actively advocating that people let their money rot?
I'm not advocating shit, unlike the (((fund managers))) and fiduciaries who will vote for ESG corporate governance with your own shares. That's part of the deal when you buy the index from Blackrock or Vanguard.
Ah, so you're just blustering in frustration with the way the world is currently structured. Carry on.
That too. I was thinking some of that in regards to the national debt just didn't type it up. A ton of that national debt is just bonds in 401ks.
Studios ought to be asking themselves "What are we doing here? Are we here to share inspired visions of fun and exciting worlds that millions of gamers enjoy while we profit from our hard work? Are we here to just separate gamers from their money with the least effort possible to get rich? Are we here to be social influencers that pushes messages through games?"
Any studio doing the second or third needs to gtfo.
Video game development is now a government DEI work program. Money and message are incidental compared to securing the loyalty of the useless eaters.
Yup. Western institutions are all DEI job programs now.
Burgers?
They get their ESG payments for doing exactly what the Epstein class wants. Spread their liberal propaganda while also killing the industry since White gamers are basically the last holdout and hardest for them to reach on a micro scale.
The cycle will begin again IMO.
All the DEI laws and incentives have to go before major western studios can make good games again. Once a business hits some level of size then there are legal obligations, activist lawfare threats, government grants and investors funding, that force or incentivize DEI hiring. Western studios can't purge the left as long as that is happening.
I think a lot of those incentives HAVE gone. EA is under Saudi money, Ubisoft gasps for water as a Chinese vulture looms, Naughty Dog can feel the reaper nearby waiting for them to release their next game.
The fact Mixtape took a nepobaby to make and even with EVERY shill it didn't sell, shows the funds are simply not there any more as I think Blackrock publicly said they aren't funding it anymore either.
This is the start of the golden age of indie gaming, never has it been easier.
GTA6 is still on the way and they're supposedly still working on Elder Scrolls 6 but I can't think of anything else big that's on the way.
FF7 3rd part. 2 weeks until Summer Game Fest. Either Square will swallow the humble pill and admit turning their back on turn-based was a mistake or they will triple down on punishing action combat nonsense. Personally I think Nomura should just copy Yoshi's homework and put timely accesories into 3rd part to elevate the issue.
Cyberpunk 2 , The witcher 4(though cd projekt is not really a western dev, though if they don't want to crash and burn like other western game companies they better distance themselve from the west).