EA - one of the biggest video game companies in the world - being acquired via a leveraged buyout is absolutely devastating news, not just for the people employed there (most of them will be gone in 5 years) but for the games industry as a whole. If EA even exists in a decade, it will be limping along in a diminished state as its new owners recoup the massive debt they are now owed by the people who just sold it. A handful of wealthy people have just made themselves incredibly rich and set fire to one of the few reliable sources of work remaining in the games industry. It's a question of when, not if, it burns to the ground. See also: Toys R Us, RJR Nabisco, Big Lots, Party City, Red Lobster...
Indeed! Depending on what it's going to be like, though. I didn't like the idea of the Golum game, and it looks like I was right. Honestly, even if it had better quality and all that, I still probably wouldn't have played it
Oh wow, I didn't know that it was in such a bad shape. I've heard news that a bunch of studios opened up there recently and assumed that things are turning around, but it looks like I was wrong...
Yeah, a bunch of my friends also switched to a different industry and honestly, even if you love the craft, you might not have a choice other than to do this. We all have bills to pay.
It’s probably better for the already experienced/skilled. It’s the entry-level and jobs likely to be taken by graduates that are hit hardest which is a common theme across the UK; Gen-Z/Gen-Alpha can’t get into any jobs, those who work are being paid less.
I've heard from some of the veterans of the industry (people with 30+ years of experience) that these kinds of things happen all the time. They always talk about how it's been like this since they started. It's bad and unstable some years, and then back to stable and fun, and again, back to unstable.
I hope that they are right and in a few years we'll be enjoying the stable era, so to speak.
EA going private is interesting because I don’t think there’s a company gamers are more angry at. After playing Veilguard, more like Fantasy Slop: The Failguard, so many gamers I know rejected it — after playing the game, I couldn’t believe that is what BioWare/EA allowed to ship!
True. To be honest, I don't know if I care for any other studio from EA's portfolio as much as I care about BioWare.
Honestly, I think Veilguard wasn't totally bad; it had some good moments. Like, all the gameplay elements were not bad, combat was great, and even some companion stories were interesting. But all of that got watered down because of multiple bad decisions. So, I get why people don't like it, but I still maintain my stance that it was not a bad game. Not a great one or maybe not even a good one, but definitely better than Andromeda or Anthem.
My hope now is that this will not be the case for Mass Effect 5.
I liked the game play, but I think they did too much that contradicted the Qunari, and the whole Lich Lord of the Necropolis thing makes me wonder why the Chantry would allow that — they’d had exalted marches for less.
On Mass Effect 5, I hope they can pull it together, the Mass Effect team did create two elements of the end of Veilguard that were fun to play. I just think whatever happened in BioWare Edmonton, it shows there was something deeply wrong with the development process.
EA - one of the biggest video game companies in the world - being acquired via a leveraged buyout is absolutely devastating news, not just for the people employed there (most of them will be gone in 5 years) but for the games industry as a whole. If EA even exists in a decade, it will be limping along in a diminished state as its new owners recoup the massive debt they are now owed by the people who just sold it. A handful of wealthy people have just made themselves incredibly rich and set fire to one of the few reliable sources of work remaining in the games industry. It's a question of when, not if, it burns to the ground. See also: Toys R Us, RJR Nabisco, Big Lots, Party City, Red Lobster...
I really hope it's not the case, but that's a very likely possibility, unfortunately...
Oooo potentially a new LOTR game eh?? I'm so down for that
Indeed! Depending on what it's going to be like, though. I didn't like the idea of the Golum game, and it looks like I was right. Honestly, even if it had better quality and all that, I still probably wouldn't have played it
Yeah I didn’t think that game would be any good. And sure enough, it didn’t sound like it did very well. But the Shadows of Mordor ones were decent.
UK games industry is in an awful spot. Zero government support, chronic brain drain, low wages and a high nukber of graduates with nobody hiring.
Everyone I knew with game dev. expertise went to work in something different and gave up on the idea
Oh wow, I didn't know that it was in such a bad shape. I've heard news that a bunch of studios opened up there recently and assumed that things are turning around, but it looks like I was wrong...
Yeah, a bunch of my friends also switched to a different industry and honestly, even if you love the craft, you might not have a choice other than to do this. We all have bills to pay.
It’s probably better for the already experienced/skilled. It’s the entry-level and jobs likely to be taken by graduates that are hit hardest which is a common theme across the UK; Gen-Z/Gen-Alpha can’t get into any jobs, those who work are being paid less.
I've heard from some of the veterans of the industry (people with 30+ years of experience) that these kinds of things happen all the time. They always talk about how it's been like this since they started. It's bad and unstable some years, and then back to stable and fun, and again, back to unstable.
I hope that they are right and in a few years we'll be enjoying the stable era, so to speak.
EA going private is interesting because I don’t think there’s a company gamers are more angry at. After playing Veilguard, more like Fantasy Slop: The Failguard, so many gamers I know rejected it — after playing the game, I couldn’t believe that is what BioWare/EA allowed to ship!
Microsoft? (Xbox, Blizzard, Bethesda and all that)
Xbox, but let’s just say the game was entirely divorced from all of the other titles.
There was already established lore that was just summarily removed from the game about the different factions in the game.
It would be like Halo without the Flood…
True. To be honest, I don't know if I care for any other studio from EA's portfolio as much as I care about BioWare.
Honestly, I think Veilguard wasn't totally bad; it had some good moments. Like, all the gameplay elements were not bad, combat was great, and even some companion stories were interesting. But all of that got watered down because of multiple bad decisions. So, I get why people don't like it, but I still maintain my stance that it was not a bad game. Not a great one or maybe not even a good one, but definitely better than Andromeda or Anthem.
My hope now is that this will not be the case for Mass Effect 5.
I liked the game play, but I think they did too much that contradicted the Qunari, and the whole Lich Lord of the Necropolis thing makes me wonder why the Chantry would allow that — they’d had exalted marches for less.
On Mass Effect 5, I hope they can pull it together, the Mass Effect team did create two elements of the end of Veilguard that were fun to play. I just think whatever happened in BioWare Edmonton, it shows there was something deeply wrong with the development process.