Industry and Video game layoff thread |OT| Any future layoff info please place in here.

[Shmunter]

Motorboating time

 

[Zzero]

2 of them + all the studios with barely any issues. There's only 2 big publishers left in USA.

You can add OpenAi, LinkedIn, Github etc.

They can buy whatever they want and the regulators don't care while they go after Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon for every little thing. They are extremely biased.

Take2, Epic, WB, so there's at least three. And that doesn't include platform holders like MS, Valve, FB, Apple, Amazon. Throw in Roblox, I guess, as a "one game publisher" who's one game has them valued above ten billion dollars.

And I didn't even go into small or bad publishers...

 

[Puff]

Microsoft Lays Off 1,900 Staff From Its Video Game Workforce - IGN

Microsoft is cutting 1,900 staff from its video game workforce, sources have told IGN.

www.ign.com

A source told IGN that Microsoft's gaming teams had already suffered significant cuts to marketing budgets before staff were told of the layoffs.

Layoffs in the video game industry are becoming the norm, even at companies that continue to deliver huge profits.

I really feel sorry for the developers

 

[Johnic]

Hopefully, the hardcore astroturfing stops from now on. Let's see what their youtube puppets do now that daddy Satya tightened the purse strings.

Ahh, who am I kidding, they'll do it for free, won't they?

 

[Batzy]

Its fine, Sony is still marketing COD...right?...RIGHT!!!!!??????

 

[Gamernyc78]

..

 

[Swift_Star]

Microsoft is ruthless with these cuts. Fucming trillion dollar company, could relocate these people in other sectors within the company, moving them from gaming to azure, office or other products, but, no, they simply cut these people.
Disgusting company.
I hate late stage capitalism and its “infinite growth” mantra:

 

[Jim Ryan]

Sega of America layoffs will hit organized staff hard, union worked to lessen impact

"This has been a hard fight and it is devastating to say goodbye to our friends and coworkers."

www.gamedeveloper.com

As it approaches its one-year anniversary, the worker-led AEGIS union will be hit hard by Sega of America's layoffs in the coming weeks.

• Sega of America was prevously accused by AEGIS of trying union-busting tactics to break up its members.

The incoming layoffs at Sega of America (SoA) are set to hit its workers union, AEGIS.
In a statement to press, the CWA-backed group said all 61 employees being let go in March are represented by the union. The union was first formed by 144 staffers last April.
Back in November, the union accused SoA of trying to lay off 40 percent of staff. The act was believed to be a union-busting tactic, which both SoA and Sega were accused of prior to its union vote.
AEGIS said it heard about SoA layoffs months ago, and bargained to mitigate the damage. Sega initially aimed to cut nearly all temp workers and give them two weeks severance.
By bargaining with Sega of America, AEGIS secured 8-14 weeks of severance for those being let go (depending on their tenure). And 18 employees were able to keep their jobs.

"This has been a hard fight and it is devastating to say goodbye to our friends and coworkers," wrote AEGIS. While it was glad to "soften the blow" of layoffs, it acknowledged the event justified its existence.

"Without a union today would be a lot worse than it is. These are hard times in our industry and every worker in it deserves a union so we can all fight back together."

For Microsoft's staff cuts in January, unions prevented layoffs from hitting represented members for ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard. Unions can't always protect against layoffs, but they can mitigate the damage.

The CWA and ex-Bungie general counsel Don McGowan advised studios unionize. 2024 is looking to be a layoff-heavy year, and organizing may be the only way for developers fight for their rights.

 

[Snes nes]

I'd imagine this would be because these are people who had roles that weren't extremely important in their business so they were just laid off.

 

[Batzy]

Oh no! Now they won't make...wait. all Sega devs are in Japan. This means nothing.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Take2, Epic, WB, so there's at least three. And that doesn't include platform holders like MS, Valve, FB, Apple, Amazon. Throw in Roblox, I guess, as a "one game publisher" who's one game has them valued above ten billion dollars.

And I didn't even go into small or bad publishers...

I wouldn't count WB and Epic as traditional gaming publishers.

There's EA and Take2 for AAA gaming on consoles and that's it. You're really twisting the definition to include the rest. Are you a MS lawyer with that spin?

What is Valve, Apple and Amazon publishing on Playstation? What studios are going to them to publish games? You're just throwing random names so MS can get away with buying more.

Microsoft can buy Take2 and make GTA exclusive because Roblox

 

[Zzero]

I wouldn't count WB and Epic as traditional gaming publishers.

There's EA and Take2 for AAA gaming on consoles and that's it. You're really twisting the definition to include the rest. Are you a MS lawyer with that spin?

What is Valve, Apple and Amazon publishing on Playstation? What studios are going to them to publish games? You're just throwing random names so MS can get away with buying more.

Microsoft can buy Take2 and make GTA exclusive because Roblox

I feel like a dummy for forgetting EA but I'll definitely fight you on not including WB. Epic... ehh, they seem to be funneling everything through Fortnite now so they're more in the same boat as Roblox Corp or, as a European example, IO Interactive. Back to Warner though, they have six or seven big studios making AAA games, I don't see how that doesn't fit the bill of a traditional publisher. Thats more teams than T2. And its not all WB movie games either, they do Mortal Kombat and Lego too.


Edit: But if you're going to make this just about how much Microsoft is allowed to own then I'll say whether the publisher is American owned or not is irrelevant and that instantly gives me 20+ more names I can throw out. Not to mention that "publishing", itself, is practically irrelevant now when physical disk pressing has seemingly become optional for half the industry.

 

[Doncortez77]

The dumbass bot cult on twitter

 

[Doncortez77]

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Microsoft that just laid off 1900 last week and 10000 last year

These garbage people are so fucking stupid. Sega deserves it for aligning themselves with MS so closely.

 

[AshHunter216]

The dumbass bot cult on twitter

That dude clearly hasn't been paying attention to the news.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

That dude clearly hasn't been paying attention to the news.

It must be a chatgpt bot, no human is this stupid? or are there some out there?

 

[Gods&Monsters]

I feel like a dummy for forgetting EA but I'll definitely fight you on not including WB. Epic... ehh, they seem to be funneling everything through Fortnite now so they're more in the same boat as Roblox Corp or, as a European example, IO Interactive. Back to Warner though, they have six or seven big studios making AAA games, I don't see how that doesn't fit the bill of a traditional publisher. Thats more teams than T2. And its not all WB movie games either, they do Mortal Kombat and Lego too.

WB is more like a Disney, it's all part of Discovery. They publish their own DC IPs, Harry Potter and Mortal Kombat. They're not a big independent publisher like EA or T2.

Regulators would let it slide because they are dumb but we know better.

EA and Take2 are the only 2 left in USA and that's it.

 

[Zzero]

WB is more like a Disney, it's all part of Discovery. They publish their own DC IPs, Harry Potter and Mortal Kombat. They're not a big independent publisher like EA or T2.

Regulators would let it slide because they are dumb but we know better.

EA and Take2 are the only 2 left in USA and that's it.

If Disney's gaming efforts could last more than 4 or 5 years at a time I'd have gladly included them too. The fact that WB also has tv and movie studios attached to it does nothing to change the fact that they are a major publisher of games with six big internal studios focused on console gaming, a few separate mobile and support studios, independent publishing deals for other WB IP games that they don't make and at least one truly golden gaming IP in the form of Mortal Kombat. And rather than being a new interloper they've been at it in the AAA space for well over a decade now. You might as well be saying that Bandai-Namco isn't a big independent publisher either because they're an anime and toy company too.

 

[Zzero]

Were these the ones trying to unionize? Surely not, that would be illegal...