It's a tumultuous time for gaming. After years of unprecedented growth during the pandemic, the economics are beginning to stagnate while the cost of producing games continues to rise.
The constant barrage of mass layoffs we've seen over the last couple of years is a direct result of corporate mismanagement; a combination of overspending and short-sighted decision-making is wiping out swathes of the industry.
According to id Software producer Andrew Willis, large publishers and monopolies are squarely to blame for the problems the gaming industry currently faces (nice spot, PC Gamer).
"I think the only way to fix the video game industry at this point is for developer-owned studios to start rising from these studio closures and layoffs," he writes. "We've got to learn from the past, be fiscally responsible, and create an environment of sustainable growth (though growth should be a byproduct of success, not a goal in and of itself). It's the only path forward I can see, and these large publishers and monopolies have proven themselves terrible stewards and somehow even worse financial managers. If the people who create the value own the value, good things will follow."
That almost sounds like workers seizing...
