Many of you already know that the video game industry is in crisis, just look at the huge number of developers who have been laid off in 2024. According to the Video Game Layoffs website, this figure amounts to 13,000 layoffs, although in certain situations these restructurings can be prevented. Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Studios and director of the Ori games, has reflected on this topic on social media.
The director of No Rest for the Wicked has published an extensive message on his X/Twitter account where he explains why some AAA video game studios are in crisis, and how it can be avoided in his opinion. Just don’t grow massively because you lose the focus and culture of the studio with which it was founded, hence these video games are not of such high quality. “It’s not at all surprising to me that many AAA studios have been having problems lately, and my prediction is that this won’t improve soon,” he points out.
“I know it sounds absurd, but many of the game studios that achieved success at some point were just a small group of passionate people who wanted to make games together. In many cases, they were just friends. And if they were lucky, they discovered in the process that they really formed a great team. Then, the games they created resonated with the audience and now the studio grew and became massive,” assures the creator of Ori and the Blind Forest.
The key is not to grow massively and not lose the culture that made you great
“Then, other people came in and started demanding changes that, unknowingly, altered the culture and work focus. And suddenly, we wonder what happened to that great studio that always delivered quality products, without noticing that EVERYTHING changed in their way of making games. I have compared these companies to musical bands in the past because I believe it helps people understand that they face the same problems,” he says, giving an example about the Beatles.
“You must keep that magic alive that made everything work in the first place. We are dealing with humans, and too often the industry seems to forget that,” he concludes. This is a very similar opinion to that shared by the director of Baldur’s Gate 3, as he pointed out that he did not want to make the mistake that almost the entire industry has made in recent years, which was to grow in an unsustainable way.
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