Fermbiz
Gold Member
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Alanah Pearce - It's going to get worse
- Thread starter Madflavor
- Start date
Boss Man
Member
Live service games can be good, it’s just that no one has been able to think carefully about how to serve up and sell the content once all of the income possibilities are dangling in their face.
Helldivers 2 was a good model. If a big AAA dev could replicate that but add content quicker we could have great games with continuous support and nobody loses.
Helldivers 2 was a good model. If a big AAA dev could replicate that but add content quicker we could have great games with continuous support and nobody loses.
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simpatico
Member
Is she dumb bro’s? Every studio that got axed this year released some festering turds before being closed. Even Tango dropped that Ghostwire game before HiFi Rush. Which studio do you guys think she’s talking about here? Or is she just saying it because she doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of the recently unemployed?
Boss Man
Member
Tbh, it’s probably all of the above but also she’s got a point that just wasn’t articulated well.
Game quality is definitely not irrelevant, it’s just not as relevant as many would assume. As someone who survived several rounds of tech layoffs last year, the biggest trend I saw (outside of entire teams being laid off because their function just no longer aligned with the business) was older employees with lots of unvested stock being targeted. There was virtually no correlation with actual job performance at my company. Surviving it felt like avoiding being struck by lightning.
Financial decisions in a large corporation can be pretty unintuitive. Try making money by buying stock in companies that you think are making the best games and you’ll just be playing the lottery.
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saintjules
Gold Member
I was gonna make another thread but probably better to continue it from here
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Oh my Gosh...layoffs are not genocide. The manufactured empathy surrounding young upper middle class people recieving generous severance packages is insane.
Johnny Concrete
Member
To pile up on that: every internet loudmouth claims that these massive layoffs are some kind of malicious act to keep CEO’s rich and shareholders happy.
What do they expect? A company keeps paying people out of the kindness of their hearts until it collapses and suddenly everyone is out of a job?
A company going bankrupt means you basically get no warning and often even no pay for your previous months work.
I refuse to believe these decisions are made that lightly.
Non if these youtube people were or will ever be a CEO of a big company, so why comment on that stuff?
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DEAD ORIGINAL
Member
Stop making woke shit would help
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
Shareholder primacy governance is shitty and people are going to keep calling it out as shitty.
Shocking, I know
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
wearing glasses make her seem smart.
FunkMiller
Member
A company that is run much better, and doesn't constantly think that 'line goes up' is all that matters?
You've gotta have some pretty big corporate cock in your mouth to not realise or accept how badly these games companies are being run these days, in their overwhelming desire to make their senior management and shareholders richer, at the cost of everything else.
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StereoVsn
Gold Member
I mean just look what catering to short term investors and shareholders did for Boeing and Intel. They are suffering from success!
Also, the gaming and tech major companies laying off thousands of people don’t fire their upper management for some reason. You know, fuckers responsible for the whole mess in the first place.
I also don’t see upper management pay, bonuses and stock reimbursement being cut.
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ReBurn
Gold Member
Yeah, it's not really the shareholders who are the problem. It's the management of the company. A lot of companies wouldn't exist in the first place if it weren't for the money they receive from shareholders. Employees in a lot of companies are paid with funds received from shareholders, so it's bizarre to me to see shareholders demonized. They take way more financial risk than employees do.
When management performs their job poorly employees lose their jobs and shareholders lose their investment. There just isn't enough oversight of executive management. If layoffs are going to happen as a result of poor leadership then some of the money and equity that is paid to those executives should be clawed back. They shouldn't be rewarded for fixing problems they created in the first place. Management sucks up to shareholders because they need them to keep investing money. They can hire people back later.
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StereoVsn
Gold Member
The issue is that with current financial climate, executives are very much incentivized to keep an eye on short term profits.
Their bonuses depend on keeping Wallstreet happy quarter to quarter. And most investors only hold stock short term.
That results in corner cost cutting, outsourcing even important functions and caring mostly about short term outlook. After all even if the executive gets booted after a few years of nice bonuses, they get to land with their golden parachute before proceeding to the next company to do the same.
Throw in “activist investors”, short sellers, private equities and more, and you can see why this shitshow just keeps on giving.
I blame the start with the hacks Milton Friedman and fucking Jack Welch.
SJRB
Gold Member
Besides, and this is a hot take - if you start a career in videogame development you know what you're getting yourself into. "How can this happen," says person working in industry where this happens literally every year on a massive scale.
Pegasus Actual
Member
Weird video from Alanah, shirt not nearly revealing enough (I guess she's in mourning or something?), and she's conflating the looming AI threat with Bungie employees getting rekt for poor performing products. Also, I guess I didn't realize that Aussies pronounce "consumers" as "conshhhhooomers".
As to her point that many people laid off will exit the industry for good...? Okay, who cares? She harps on about "creatives" but let's face it, everybody knows that the best "creatives" for the most part tend to have their best output early on, burn bright, whatever, and then they're washed. Not an issue, new blood will make the new things.
Sure, some creatives stay relevant and can keep the quality of their output high, and those people will have no issues staying on in the industry.
For that matter, and this might be a bit of an antibody reaction to her incessant "capitalism bad" nonsense, I think highly successful companies should cull the least useful part of their workforce regularly. This "everybody gets a raise and job security" shit just lets a rot seep in from the bottom.
As to her point that many people laid off will exit the industry for good...? Okay, who cares? She harps on about "creatives" but let's face it, everybody knows that the best "creatives" for the most part tend to have their best output early on, burn bright, whatever, and then they're washed. Not an issue, new blood will make the new things.
Sure, some creatives stay relevant and can keep the quality of their output high, and those people will have no issues staying on in the industry.
For that matter, and this might be a bit of an antibody reaction to her incessant "capitalism bad" nonsense, I think highly successful companies should cull the least useful part of their workforce regularly. This "everybody gets a raise and job security" shit just lets a rot seep in from the bottom.
Deerock71
Member
saintjules
Gold Member
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Bungie has quadrupled their employee count over the last 10 - 12 years.
The only people who think they're a poorly run company with bad leadership at the top are people who are susceptible to clickbait. Leaders have to be able to make mistakes. Calling for mutiny at the first sign of rough waters is ignorant. You gotta have some pretty big ideological cock in your mouth not to look at the bigger picture.
MikeM
Member
The excessive catering to shareholders instead of making good, viable products is a major reason why a lot of these companies get into trouble. If you focus on the delivery of a good product that functions properly, income should naturally flow due to it.
peek
Member
Something, something capitalism bad? Yes, yes! Me hate capitalism too now.
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
So, are we gonna act like Alanah Pearce is not a whore?
Big Baller
Al Pachinko, Konami President
Madflavor
Member
Your parents know you’re on websites like NeoGaf?
West Texas CEO
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
No, I log on when they've gone to sleep.
cash_longfellow
Member
Y’all need to stop bumping this shit man. It’s truly getting old. If she ever has something important to say, then by all means…until then though, can we please stop?
What do you consider "woke shit"? If I make a game where the cast is mainly black, do you consider it to be "woke shit"? Because on this site I see that every game starring a black person is considered woke.
Randall365
Member
The sad truth is that the entertainment industry is in quite a large bubble. There is far too much content for people to watch/play these days and turn a profit. The current scheme of hire for a big project and then fire will continue to play out until AI steps in and most of the jobs get wiped out.
However, I do think the developers that cater for their audience (rather than their own take on what people should like - possibly to appeal to a small minority of games journalists) will be the ones that thrive.
By the way, these youtubers lamenting the demise of gaming mags and devs - 20 years ago gamers read games mags and played games (and paid for them) - kids these days are spending more time watching gaming on youtube and streams (which advertising pays for). It is akin to Netflix having a minute’s silence for Blockbuster.
However, I do think the developers that cater for their audience (rather than their own take on what people should like - possibly to appeal to a small minority of games journalists) will be the ones that thrive.
By the way, these youtubers lamenting the demise of gaming mags and devs - 20 years ago gamers read games mags and played games (and paid for them) - kids these days are spending more time watching gaming on youtube and streams (which advertising pays for). It is akin to Netflix having a minute’s silence for Blockbuster.
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twinspectre
Member
People supported GAAS, then what y'all expected ? that things would get better?
The current state of this industry is "Gamers" fault, because they are the ones that support crap.
The current state of this industry is "Gamers" fault, because they are the ones that support crap.
bitbydeath
Member
twinspectre
Member
No, this is the result of "gamers" supporting shit games and shit business practice.
DaleinCalgary
Member
The games industry is bloated, woke and mostly garbage these days.
ReBurn
Gold Member
Management is incentivized to keep an eye toward profit, whether it's short term or long term, at the direction of their shareholders. In public companies management works for the board of directors. The board of directors are elected by and work for the shareholders. Since the shareholders literally own substantial portions of public companies it should come as no surprise that they get what they want, whether it be investing or profit taking, and employees don't.
"Keeping Wall Street happy" is a necessity for public companies, otherwise shareholders sell their stock, draining a company's cash, and the company dies and everyone gets fires. If employees want to be employed Wall Street needs to be kept happy. Sometimes businesses have to downsize to keep the machine running and some employees are let go. It sucks, but business doesn't exist simply to employ people. It exists to make money, and it will until wealth acquisition ceases to be the primary driving force in the world.
About the only thing employees can do to not be meat for the grinder is become investors and shareholders themselves and grow wealth. Living off of income alone is always going to leave you vulnerable. I know it's easier said than done and most people can't. I wish it were different.
SportsFan581
Member
Indeed. It's a late stage capitalism problem that will require better solutions. Assuming that we've hit or come close to hitting the population peak in the first-world, the ability to sustain the never ending growth will disappear entirely.
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MrTroubleMaker
Member
milk them simps
cash_longfellow
Member
Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Let’s not battle each other my good men.Says the simp willing to go through the trouble of adding this clip
Instead, we need to battle our own meat.
Halo2redvsblue
Member
She won't sleep with you until she bonds with you but she will show you the goods.
DEAD ORIGINAL
Member
The gay couple mission in Spiderman 2 is prime example, TBF that whole game is full of woke shit. All new games coming out Concord for example all shitty cartoon graphics full of pronouns and bad characters design.
You mention if u made a mainly black cast game GTA San Andreas was and was brilliant not because they were black because the characters were believable interesting and fun.
BacklashWave534
Member
Always capitalism's fault for these clowns. Nothing to do with insane inflation, bloated development costs, and the fact that the game industry is mostly located in a state that takes a massive portion of their profits for taxes. Yet companies like Larian have shown that an organization can operate lean and be extremely successful.
Jaybe
Member
If it’s clearly been pushed through the corporate DEI checklist (like Microsoft’s framework below), it’s woke to me, particularly if the company used consultants in the space it shows as lacking authenticity.
Product Inclusion
Accomplishing big things starts with one step - the opening of a single door. What door will YOU open today?developer.microsoft.com
Product Inclusion - Representation
Create a product experience where customers feel they belong.developer.microsoft.com
Create a product experience where customers feel they belong.
What this means:
We create product experiences with respectful expression.
- Respectful expression shows up in multiple facets of our work including:
- Creators - Ensuring we partner with and support a diverse community of content creators.
- Content - Ensuring our content tells stories that resonate with our diverse player base in-game, and in our marketing.
- Players - Ensuring our players feel seen and connected to meaningful experiences.
- We bring to life people and cultures within our products, from many diverse perspectives, recognizing that there is not a single portrayal of a person that could represent an entire community or culture.
Source: 2022 Google PC & Console Insights Report
Getting Started with Representation
How can you help customers feel belonging in your product experience?
Questions to Consider
- What steps have you taken to ensure characters are represented respectfully and authentically?
- Are you telling new stories or sharing new perspectives within the product experience?
- How have you validated assumptions you have made about your audience to check for blind spots or unintended stereotypes?
- Would you feel proud to show a member of a community how their culture/character is depicted within your experience?
- How are the wide range of customers depicted within your products and communications?
- Do all of your characters/player depictions look the same?
- What process have you used to validate how different groups of people or cultures are represented in your experience?
- Do you have a process to review key decisions with the lens of respectful expression?
Metrics: Measuring Progress
The metrics below are meant to help jumpstart thinking about how a team might measure inclusion for Representation. Think of it as an example and go beyond it to find the metrics that work best for your project. Engage Data Science and User Research teams to see what data is available to you. If the data you need doesn’t exist yet, it’s a prime opportunity to start tracking it and understand how to open a door to Representation!
Xbox Store Multicultural Collections
- Demographic User Data: Breakdown of the product user base by demographic factors. Essential for understanding if the product resonates with a diverse audience.
- Community Engagement: Participation rates of underrepresented communities in forums, beta tests, or co-creation initiatives. Active engagement suggests that co-creation efforts are effective, leading to a sense of belonging among participants.
- Sentiment Analysis by Demographics: Analysis of user sentiment segmented by different demographic groups. Helps identify if certain groups have less positive experiences.
- Inclusive Content Ratio: The proportion of content featuring or catering to underrepresented groups. Measures the extent of representation in the product's content.
The Xbox Store multicultural collections help players find content that’s meaningful to them.
Xbox Publishing Partnership with GLAAD
Xbox Publishing has a ongoing partnership with GLAAD to bring more LGBTQIA+ stories to our players.
And under: “Help Customers Feel Seen”:
Create & surface content that depicts diverse characters, stories and creators
- Create playable characters that reflect the broader population. Review how identities represented on screen (gender identities, races, sexual orientations, ability status, ages, and body sizes) match up to the broader population. Make sure that characters are not tokenized or stereotyped based on their identities.
- Review how identities represented in your product such as gender, race, sexuality, nationality, cultural, ability, age, and size compare to the broader global player population. Be intentional about which identities are present and highlighted according to what’s right for your product and market.
- Make sure that characters are not tokenized or stereotyped based on their identities. No person or character can be a monolith to represent all people with that identity.
- Practice inclusive casting for any talent required to bring representation to life in your product.
- Validate your execution for your Inclusive Listening Systems (consultants/advisory councils, user research).