I’m not the first person to remark that it’s been an incredible year for games, and an absolutely abysmal one for the people who make them.
Never have we had a year quite like this, filled with so many back-to-back GOTY contenders. Unfortunately, this is against a backdrop of mass layoffs. Codemasters, Phoenix Labs, Humble Games, Amazon Games, Digital Extremes, Ubisoft, Bungie, Media Molecule, Visual Arts, Frontier, Telltale Games, Mediatonic, Creative Assembly, Ascendent, Striking Distance, BioWare, Niantic, CD Projekt RED, and Riot Games are just a few examples of companies that have been affected by layoffs. That’s right. Just a few examples. We’ve been unable to go several days this year without hearing about layoffs or the closure of a studio - and it’s a shame to see that the people who create the games we love aren’t being cared for.
Take a look at GAMINGbible’s GOTY countdown.
We’ve seen similar events in the games media landscape, where mass layoffs have also taken place. It’s clearly a tipping point for the industry - and it was a shame not to see Geoff Keighley call on the industry to do better at The Game Awards given that he’s one of the most recognisable faces in this space.
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It’s not all doom and gloom though. Warhammer creator Games Workshop has announced that it’ll be giving all of its staff a year-end bonus of £2,500. Isn't it nice to hear some uplifting news for a change? As reported by Dicebreaker, Games Workshop raked in £235 million in core revenue in the last six months alone, an improvement on the £213.3 million earnt in the first half of the year.
The company reportedly boasts a profit share scheme, which funds these bonuses, and this year’s available pool is thought to be up on last year’s by around 66%. We can only hope that 2024 brings stability to the industry. It’s so desperately needed.
Topics: Warhammer