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?
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.