Joe’s Take

The non-game investors who assumed creativity could be purchased with vast sums, they are gone. The tech bros who thought they could make us into product to feed their ever-expanding platforms, have largely realized their mistake or have adapted to us. Much of the old merchant class who controlled the industry for so long, by buying companies that built successful original games, learned that if they were really good, they could succeed at sequels but often little else. And, those who realized they could monetize only through manipulation, who live in their walled garden of money-printing, they have become a separate industry unto themselves.

True games are hard to make. Fun is an actual instance of magic in our lives. Tools will improve as they always have, including some useful AI ones for helping devs, amidst a lot of false promises and excuses to use this hype as a way to finally fire more pesky humans. Amazing technology is available to teams of any size and is no longer a blocker to delivering fun. In this time of layoffs & closures, games in development that never should’ve been started are being shut down, games in development that were looking good are being shut down due to corporate nonsense, and the noise & financing shift to AI deafens. Amongst all this chaos, the reemergence of a focus on rational creative business — the heart of our industry — is underway.

Creative leaders are ditching factory-teams, which are best run by qualified managers as they are more a vehicle for creating shareholder value than fostering creativity. True partnerships across regions are forming, where before only outsourcing contracts were found. Successful developers and former publishing veterans are building new publishers which offer mutually fair deals, unwilling to be the crusty merchants of a bygone era. And those old firms? Many within them are working hard to reclaim the 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 of their companies and to reestablish their north stars. If they are primarily about sequels & remasters, that is an important part of the industry, but it is not the 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 we all know is vital for us to thrive into the future. A company, large or small, run by decision-makers who understand and love games will take considered risks that will not pay off every time, yet which will always be heading in the right direction.

We will be a smaller industry by headcount than one bloated by false economics. Yes, we grew too fast, binging in many areas all at once, and we are managing the resulting hangover. Treat one another well, champion creatives bringing new projects to market & look for ways to lift them up, embrace fair business and aim to be shoulder-to-shoulder working together for the success of the game. This is a creative industry; there will always be some chaos of our own making. But, the air is clearing on all of this external noise and, if you look, I believe, you’ll see the reclamation taking place.