We’ve said it many times on both the Nintendo Entertainment Podcast and Spectator Mode, but the current video game industry (with a few exceptions like Nintendo for specific reasons) isn’t in a place where it’s sustainable. Many companies, including Bethesda, with games like Starfield or Redfall, are trying to rush out titles that aren’t ready or make massive universes that aren’t close to the level of quality games expect from developers. Then, you look at the layoffs that 2023 and 2024 have had, and it’s hard to see anything positive overall. The director of Baldur’s Gate 3, Swen Vincke, shared these very thoughts while at GDC 2024.
As noted on Twitter, Swen went on record saying that the problem is greed, and wanting better profits than games that can deliver those profits. Then, when they don’t get what they want, the only “answer” in their minds is layoffs, and that’s not right in his mind:
“Greed has been f*cking this whole thing up for so long, since I started. I’ve been fighting publishers my entire life and I keep on seeing the same, same, same mistakes over, and over and over. It’s always the quarterly profits, the only thing that matters are the numbers, and then you fire everybody and then next year you say ‘sh*t I’m out of developers’ and then you start hiring people again, and then you do acquisitions, and then you put them in the same loop again, and it’s just broken… It really pisses me off.”
The irony of his statement is not lost on us. First off, Baldur’s Gate 3 was not only a game years in the making for the RIGHT reasons, but it sold millions when it finally came out, got all sorts of accolades, and won Game of the Year! The team is still intact (save for what Hasbro did to the D&D crew, but that’s another company) and gamers know they’ll do right by them with whatever game they do next.
In contrast, companies like The Embracer Group are not only still doing layoffs, but they’re trying to justify their actions, even though there is no justification for them. 2024 has already seen massive layoffs from The Embrace Group, Sony, Microsoft, and so many more, and it’s already to the level of 2023, and we’re only three months in!
Hopefully, people take Swen’s words to heart so that we can get the best games possible without an axe looming over developers’ heads.
