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Jobs gone, studios closed: This cannot continue like this!
Gaming currently seems like a huge paradox: On the one hand, the gaming year 2023 was one of the strongest in years. A lot of well-known games were released and the new consoles were finally sufficiently available. But at the same time there were layoffs, thousands of people lost their jobs, and there is no sign of a boom. In 2024, this misery seems to continue seamlessly – see the situation at Piranha Bytes.
We have already discussed the reasons for this crisis in detail, but we have to take a closer look at two companies in particular because they particularly disappointed us:
The Embracer Group (i.e. THQ Nordic, Plaion & Co.) and Microsoft.
We originally praised both of them very much for their strategies, but now the bad news is piling up there too:
- Embracer is sitting on an enormous mountain of debt after the expensive takeovers of the last few years and, after Volition (Saints Row), would also like to close Piranha Bytes; even the gearbox, which was purchased at a high price, is rumored to be sold. There are also layoffs in almost all parts of the company and disappointing game releases.
- Microsoft After several large waves of layoffs, the company is cutting another 1,900 jobs in 2023 – especially at Blizzard. What’s more: The Blizzard leadership has been replaced; instead of Mike Ybarra, Johanna Faries, who previously led the Call of Duty series, is now at the helm.
Micha discusses what lies behind these radical cuts with Human Nagafi, management consultant at 1789 Innovations and podcaster Corporate Therapy and Critical Infinity.
GameStar Talk: All videos and podcasts at a glance
On the basis of a – partly exaggerated – Essays von Matthew Ball
Where analysts were expecting explosive growth a few years ago, there is now stagnation. The idea of many publishers to captivate new audiences with sequels, remakes and reboots of well-known brands has not worked.
On the one hand, this means that Embracer can no longer find investors – who wants to pump money into a stagnating market? – and have to save wherever possible. On the other hand, Microsoft is probably rethinking its cloud gaming strategy. Even if you could potentially reach hundreds of millions of people through game streaming, it will be difficult to retain them.
Blizzard plays a key role for Microsoft – but perhaps differently than we had originally hoped. You can see why in the video above, or hear it here in the podcast:
Link to Podcast content
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