1
Palia developers lay off a third of staff just weeks after cosy life sim's Steam launch
(www.rockpapershotgun.com)
this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
1 points (100.0% liked)
Gaming
2493 readers
301 users here now
The Lemmy.zip Gaming Community
For news, discussions and memes!
Community Rules
This community follows the Lemmy.zip Instance rules, with the inclusion of the following rule:
- No NSFW content
You can see Lemmy.zip's rules by going to our Code of Conduct.
What to Expect in Our Code of Conduct:
- Respectful Communication: We strive for positive, constructive dialogue and encourage all members to engage with one another in a courteous and understanding manner.
- Inclusivity: Embracing diversity is at the core of our community. We welcome members from all walks of life and expect interactions to be conducted without discrimination.
- Privacy: Your privacy is paramount. Please respect the privacy of others just as you expect yours to be treated. Personal information should never be shared without consent.
- Integrity: We believe in the integrity of speech and action. As such, honesty is expected, and deceptive practices are strictly prohibited.
- Collaboration: Whether you're here to learn, teach, or simply engage in discussion, collaboration is key. Support your fellow members and contribute positively to shared learning and growth.
If you enjoy reading legal stuff, you can check it all out at legal.lemmy.zip.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Thats pretty typical for studios after a launch. They release the game and scale back on staff till they have another game to cook up. Theres usually not much to do after a game release for a lot of the staff till they have a game in the pipeline again.
Imo it's only recently that it's become 'typical' for this to happen.
Video game developer here. It has been happening since the games industry started. Frequently, early games were made by contractors that were let go at the end of a project.
Many studios have done this for decades. Many developers actually like this as contract work pays differently than salary work and gives different freedoms.
It’s been typical for qa and similar staff for a very long time. This article doesn’t specify what roles were cut so it’s hard to say if this is business as usual or not.
Typical doesn’t mean it’s not fucked up.
So leadership doesn’t prep for a new project towards the end of the current one? sounds like terrible project management is to blame.
They don't generally have the funding to have multiple games in the pipeline, so that each resource is busy at all times.
It's a shitty deal for the staff and they should contract more or something instead.
I understand they have different types of staff with different areas of expertise, and they might be dependent on another thing being done first, like models before textures, but laying them off completely and bringing them back or hiring green employees does not seem like an efficient solution.
If they can't afford to keep the employees on bench for a month till they start another one then that sounds like terrible management.
This would be my gut reaction as well. I've met some game developers privately and got to know them better and after that a career in game development was out of the question for me. It's not even the fault of the game studios, many of which are being lead by idealistic game devs themselves. It's the publishers who only offer contracts that are so tightly knit, that many game studios go bankrupt after release if they can't get another contract quick enough. The whole industry is rotten and no amount of management will save that on the lowest level of the food chain. It felt too me that only idealistic devs with a high frustration tolerance go into game development and that is being exploited to the extreme.