What a welcome back this is to the MSW Blog.
If you’re a gamer of any capacity I’m sure you’ve heard of the recent layoffs at Activision-Blizzard-King. If not, here you go: 1,900 workers were laid off on January 25, 2024. The corporate “spin” is that many of these positions were redundant. Given Microsoft’s purchase of Activision, this is understandable. But the fact remains that nearly 2,000 PEOPLE lost their jobs in a day. Mom’s and Dad’s had to go home to their kids yesterday and had to break the news that they lost their jobs. Affected people who had just bought vehicles, moved into new homes, signed new leases, have to now grapple with what their next steps are.
I get it why Microsoft did this. From a business standpoint this makes complete sense. There’s no need to have 2 or 3 people doing a job that normally only needs one. And every companies biggest expense is payroll. Besides, they just spent $68.7 billion to buy ABK, so this is a quick way to reduce additional cost. This also helps show shareholders that the leadership is serious about maximizing their return on investment.
But these job cuts feel different.
XBox just had a showcase earlier this month where many new games were on full display. Months of work went into those trailers and demos. And now, those people who worked so diligently to bring those games to life have been handed walking papers.
According to Kotaku, this brings the tally of eliminated positions in the games industry to almost 6,000 THIS MONTH ALONE. If people thought the losses of 2023 were bad, at this rate the cuts of 2024 will vastly exceed those of last year.
“We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues.”
Phil Spencer
Yes, Spencer announced that those affected will be provided severance benefits, so at least these people won’t fall completely flat on their faces. But now they’re faced with an uncertain future in a cold industry. Here’s something to think on: even if every single one of these people DO manage to find another position in games, who’s to say that the same thing won’t happen at their new studio? If you’re not in games right now, can you fathom the stress that you’d feel knowing that you might be having to look for a new job every year or so?
I’m honestly at a loss as to what should be done. Is unionization the answer? Should a guild for game developers be created? Whatever the answer is, what’s happening now “ain’t it.”
MegaSound Waves 