Is the Video game industry in trouble?
With the economic recession in progress, many financial institutes have had to cut back. However, one sector that has been touted as being recession proof is the video game market. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case for big video game publishers such as EA.
We extensively talked about Microsoft’s recent decision to shutdown Ensemble Studios to seek more scalable games (casual games) in anticipation of the economic downturn. EA has also recently announced that internal studio, Black Box, will be closing down as part of a restructuring plan to offset the economic recession. This is part of EA’s cost cutting plan which involves laying off 1,000 employees or a 10 percent reduction in the workforce.
Black Box studio has been in the video game business for a long time. The studio is well known for the Need for Speed franchise as well as the Skate franchise. The decision to axe the studio may have resulted from the poor performance of the latest Need for Speed game in the series. The Skate franchise did experience success going on to sell millions.
The Need for Speed series has been going down recently. Back in its heyday, the series was considered to be one of the first successful virtual import/street tuning game. While the studio is being shutdown, some of its franchises like Skate will be rolled into Burnaby studio, which is located in British Columbia.
Of course this will mean that the franchise will be handled by new hands. This will also most likely mean that the development cycle for these games will be extended. With the consolidation and reduction in workforce, there will be fewer employees with more projects to finish.
It is unfortunate good studios such as Black Box and Ensemble Studios had to be shutdown due to the recession. Hopefully we will see a reincarnation of these studios as independent companies in the near future.
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11 Responses to “Is the Video game industry in trouble?”
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December 19th, 2008
I’m still crying about Free Radical.
December 19th, 2008
I don’t think companies like Sony/Nintendo will ever scale back studios; at least not a big scale given how Sony and Nintendo depend on their studios to sell their hardware.
I think it is studios owned by Microsoft that need to worry. MS seems to be getting really confused about being a hardcore or casual gaming division.
But if people next year see the same casual games from Nintendo and MS, it might drive people back to Sony given their line up next year.
December 19th, 2008
dont cry over free radical royzy… they made me lose my trust on hype… *sniff*… I thought Haze would be a serious contender… now its a punchline…. *sniff*
December 19th, 2008
I KICKED YO ASS ARVIS!!! YEAH BOY!!! Kneel down to da master boy… BOOYAH!!!
um… how did you do all those combos… do you have an arcade stick…
http://kotaku.com/5114739/street-fighter-iv-collectors-edition-revealed-with-new-box-art
looks cool.. but I though it would be bundled with an arcade stick… what do you think?? would more people play on LIVE or PSN?? should I get the 360 or ps3 version… damn…
help me out with the combos Arvis the pelvis… youre my only hope…
December 20th, 2008
http://www.examiner.com/x-748-Atlanta-Video-Games-Examiner~y2008m12d19-One-console-to-rule-the-world Gotta love PS3 is just so damn good. I think people want a PlayStation more than money.
December 20th, 2008
The video game industry isn’t in trouble because of the recession.
It’s in trouble because games just don’t change enough.
Few FPSs do anything new at all, just a little new terrain and maybe some different weapons, and…its a new game! Mario Kart is the only racing game that really sticks out, and even it didn’t last gen.
And these series that go on forever. Nothing against the likes of FF or FE, that can go on because its not all the same characters and storyline, but Madden, which barely changes every year, or yet another GH or Rock Band hurts the industry.
Sure, people will buy a game if the last one was good, but it ends up getting old.
The endless line of sequals will end up doing in the video game industry faster than any economic problems.
December 20th, 2008
“I think people want a PlayStation more than money.”
There were all of 300k of them in the US last month.
December 21st, 2008
Matt, I see it too, and I think if they can blend more of the story elements in a meaningful and significant way to the player, then there would not be as much of a danger.
Each genre has it’s own style, with only a few minor developments or innovations in playing the game itself. If the tale can be presented as artfully as a Dark Knight experience, combined with interactivity that has been well revised and selected with only the most meaningful quality remaining, the game industry has no worries.
Only a few games have been able to move gamers emotionally (sadness, etc), and even those at a fraction of the medium’s potential.
This will take time, though, and necessity will drive it. Right now a lot of stuff is being sold regardless of it’s quality, so only a few are driven to provide a memorable experience for the gamer. Movies have had over a century to evolve, but games are catching up fast.
December 22nd, 2008
The really scary thing is…..
…..this recession has only just started.
It’s nowhere near reaching the bottom yet.
Once the X-Mas splurge is out of the way we’ll start to really see it.
The most obvious place right now to check out how bad it’s going to get is the motor industry. Cars sales down between 33% & 50%!
Talk to anyone remotely senior in banking & finance & see the fear in their eyes.
Seriously.
They know what’s on the way.
Remember.
The 1929 stock market crash took place 3 or 4 years before the worst of the 1930’s depression.
Although it’s a possibility we will probably escape that kind of ruinous slump but Govs across the world are not ramping up public spending projects to offset the worst of this coming disaster for nothing.
It’s going to get very ugly in 2009.
December 22nd, 2008
How many times are you going to regurgitate the same blogs about the recession and the game industry?
You keep talking about the same things over and over.
Get on with it.
I didn’t even reead this one. The title says it all.
December 22nd, 2008
ncaissie,
Probably as long as the recession lasts and it is a looming issue.
You did not read it, yet you commented on it.
Interesting.