New Year Resolution & Kicking off 2025 | 357

[Music] welcome everybody to another episode of Game Dev Unchained the first episode to kickoff 2025 I know there's been a slight absence I was just taking a little break at the end of 2024 but now I'm back better than ever some of you guys were kind of poking at me like what's going on how are things when you going be back well I am finally back uh there's we're we're about 356 episodes at this point it's been a swell time uh hopefully during that absence you guys were able to catch up but I know that uh it's kind of like the way to do things now is to be on with the latest so hopefully this will satisfy you guys' need for this year I am very determined to reach

episode 400 uh we're almost there and uh there is so much to talk about I know the last episode was around October and since then uh a lot of things have been happening and I know you guys are kind of lost out there without me wondering what to do uh and what's next right and I want to spend this uh episode dedicated with just myself as you may have noticed there is no guess just to talk to you guys directly to thank you for all the support out there uh and to uh contining this journey with me the game industry as you guys may have noticed is under quite a change right now I would say out of all the years that I've been in the industry about 15 plus 20 plus years uh this is the worst time I've ever seen the game industry uh uh being under there just so much changes happening we're talking about as

a recap of what last year as sort of a continuation of 2023 there's just a lot of layoffs and I think these are basically perade deaths uh as in these jobs aren't going to get replaced there's just not enough job creation uh to replace the jobs that just have been asked and a lot of that could be attributed to the AI um I kind of like to call this period as kind of like the Great reset there are a lot of companies kind of rethinking how they operate essentially how uh profit is uh primary and not just about getting investment money and uh cooking that and then uh flopping uh on on launch right uh that is a business model that I I'm actually pretty surprised that uh we maintained for so long I know there was a period in the pes3 era where there were a lot of Studios

closing around that time uh it was when a lot of um companies were kind of starting to do more preparer engine and kind of moving away from unreal I know if you guys been long around long enough you guys kind of remember that period there was a lot of uncertainty and then the mobile market kind of blew up and that kind of helped kind of push uh different business models into the game industry that wasn't all about 5 years 200 people let's how this goes and roll the dice when it launches right and even though people are not liking at that point loot boxes or microt transactions there was a lot of maturity from the initial uh introduction of those business models and I think it it it kind of really helped uh introduce alternate ways to make money uh from from selling just the base price of a game and again like we always do we kind of take that too far now what is like I $6 game now um you

know uh people have a lot of trepidation of what that means and uh I think nowadays uh it it's actually more impressive that a AAA game is actually polished uh which is a very sad reception or Global understanding of what our game business is like now nowaday I mean a good example is as Marvel Rivals right Marvel Rivals kind of hit against the Paradigm of hero Shooters are dead triple A games are but here's a game that's super polished here's a game that is a hero shooter yes it had the Marvel license behind it and it's doing really well uh and I think more games like that coming out with more care is going to help kind of reg uh reinvigorate the triaa

Blockbuster uh packaging right which is what we need right now so that people don't feel like they're taking a risk putting out $60 uh of their hard-earned money into something that gets shut down right uh two weeks later Concord so it's going to take a while I think as far as a great reset and we're talking about just the business side of things there's uh there's definitely uh a a a a a a a transitional period obviously going on right now uh AI definitely is part of that conversation um but uh making money has become the priority again right uh and not so much of betting on on a team with uh with a bunch of good resume right they they if anything I see a lot of the these investment money or funding going uh

towards a focus back to smaller teams like Sony for example is uh is moving away from their multiplayer uh Ambitions and and and looking at financing small teams again to kind of get fresh ideas in the mix uh because it's low risk and they get to make in place a lot more bets right which increases their chance of profitability so I've seeing a lot of that uh and with this Force kind of layoff there are developers who are not looking to get back into the workforce and in a lot of cases don't have a choice because they're just not enough jobs and instead of just giving up and working at Costco or just any other job uh and getting out of the industry they are forming small companies uh to to give themselves a chance uh I think that's overall a positive thing

um we all need more ideas more businesses to to to uh go out there and take risk uh but realistically yeah like a lot of those won't succeed only a small part of that but for the greater good that is a good thing if everyone's trying their best to make it out on their own only a few succeed that's a few more that wouldn't have succeeded uh if they weren't forced to right so we are still in that period i I think 2025 is continuing that Trend uh I don't think it's stopped yet a lot of that is um well I mean Ubisoft is kind of like the Mig big elephant in the room right now um they they're having a tough couple years I would say the Star Wars didn't work out Pandora didn't work out a lot of the big bets didn't work out and now Assassin's Creed uh black Shadows I believe the next one with the um black

Samurai uh is already getting bad uh marketing reception and uh they're really Hing their bed on that one and I am afraid that uh any positivity any hype around that has been mostly negative and uh they're probably going to fail right what that means is that there's a lot of rumor where the brothers don't want to sell uh close to bankruptcy I mean I think they had their big layoffs last year uh which usually they are very good about shuffling their people around before hitting that spot but they are in desperate need of a hit and because of that big company kind of lingering on the horizon that everyone kind of feels that it's going to happen this period of layoffs haven't ex exactly stopped uh so it's being prolonged a bit uh which means there's going to be

a thousand jobs kind of thrown in to the mix of unemployment and uh like I said before it's just too many jobs being axed right now uh that is in terms of ratio way above the rate of uh jobs being created there's not enough companies just replacing these jobs so what that means is that a lot of this Lost Generation of super senior guys who are either Force retirement if they're close enough and lucky enough to even have that decision or just older seniors just looking for something more stable and just not resilient enough to kind of bounce back and and try again all right and then the younger generation of that uh students coming out of school or uh juniors in general right we're talking about anybody sub three years with no game experience going in the industry there are not uh able to kind

of get in at all and that degree or anything uh especially in this period where very few are hiring uh they are going to have to look at Alternatives uh and might have to wait this out if they have the aspirations to still get in here uh into the industry or uh like I said change careers right so we're talking about I think the last count and that was in the middle 2024 we were up to like 20,000 jobs um Counting 2023 as well uh that are just gone and the last six month hasn't been great either there was a lot of big layoffs that happen uh you know just catch up on the round tables I think we talked about each one uh last year and it's unfortunate it is a great reset and it's funny just you know just looking at the other side um you I've

been un employee for so long and at this point you know I've also been an employer for the last8 to 10 years and uh understanding how things were going especially during the covid time you know when I was trying to hire people during that time there was just some uh how extravagant salaries being requested let's say that right and at that time it was it was the time to do it because it was such a uh demand for uh Talent all right uh companies were literally competing with each other uh and so there was just so much money being thrown around and that during even the recording of those episodes I was saying that this is going to swing the other way really horribly but even this like I mentioned many times is uh exceeding

even with my pessimism uh what I thought would happen this is way too much like I didn't think it would linger this long and affect so many people and uh and it's still not done unfortunately I I I hear that you know just talking to a lot of people that 2025 is kind of be kind of like the same so for those that are listening that have great jobs or jobs in general just hold on to that hunker down don't take any risk uh just just just survive right is is the kind of key word again in 2025 for those who are looking good luck there is a lot of uh people looking right now very few opportunities that's not going to change too much but I do see at least money investment money starting to kind of crawl back into the

industry and we need that those are job Creations uh or result and job Creations so it is finally picking up 2024 was shut down 2023 last last few months of 2023 is definitely the beginning of the shutdown period of any money coming in uh but I think that's starting to open up but it still going to take time there's so many people competing for the same job right now that doesn't help obviously uh everybody uh but um I do hear at least some people uh Landing back on their feet again and it's not first choice but it is kind of like uh getting what you can get type of uh attitude right now just holding on and weather in the storm so with that being said what what am I looking for for for 2025 you know

marching to episode 400 is definitely a big goal uh it's not about just the number itself uh but like I I I want to be able to supply that with with a lot of answers right um when I talk to people especially those who reach out uh listen to the Pod uh there's a lot of lost souls out there is the best way I could describe it right so even I don't have all the answers I can be observant uh I can only relate to what's working at least on my side uh what I see uh happening in my network uh but so I still have a lot of questions and I know there's a lot of solutions out there I want to go out there and talk to the developers directly affected by by by all this by the layoffs by job search by being out there again uh directors at you know talking to directors and super seniors who's been in the industry in the biz

for 2025 years get their perspective on things how are they you know dealing with this because that is definitely something I've never seen before where highly qualified candidates awesome resume are having as tough a time uh getting a job uh as anybody else and in a lot of cases their pedigree their uh salary that they've earned uh serving all those years have worked against them at a lot of these jobs like I've heard so many times that you're like oh you're overqualified which is the worst thing uh honestly that you can hear it's probably worser than under qualify because at least under qualify makes you understand that oh if I work a little harder I can go for that job again over qualify what are you're going to do start chopping your fingers off so that you don't click the moue as fast you

know you're really kind of stuck there uh because the skill you set is kind of intimidating I guess is the best way to describe it uh to to to the people who are looking to hire or I I don't think it's as um anything vindictive I I think literally people hire and think it's an insult right to to hire someone super over qualified uh as a way to like you know the skills that you have built over the years is um is just too much for what we're asking for dayto day right uh but I I think for those who are considering or at least in these interviews you know people just need money right now uh so if they're hiring they already thought through everything uh I I just hate keep where I just hate it where I keep hearing that as a disqualification for for a c it right just let the person decide as long as

the job description is clear uh you know just treat them like an adult and if they accept a job cool if they complain about it how it's like beneath them then yeah that's a fireball offense but I think in this period and most people in the industry are not like that where they're sitting around and kind of demanding more work uh I mean a lot of people are like that demand more work but like not as a way as a as a point against the employer right most people are signing up they know what they're signing up for and happily happily obliging the job description especially in this period everyone's just kind of just waiting the weather of the storm so this year I just wanted to go to the ground floor and talk to regular people as much as possible these stories I believe will really help those who are lost they're all relatable we are all one and the same right and yes we have unique personalities but at a certain point there are types

right um from artist to engineer uh to designers uh we're all kind of going through the same thing uh it is a crazy industry it it can be a fruitful industry I love this industry for what it is but these last two years have been incredibly tough and I keep it saddens me to hear my friends hear others struggling um through no fall of their own uh simply for budget cuts or uh just you know Co just really threw us in a loop right we just went on a over hiring spree and uh the industry is is really weird in in that way it's um we like to brag about our success like we always I'm sure you guys are always seeing us tting the numbers of how much money we make versus the movie industry and and uh in the same way we're kind of Chas in them in terms of budgets for these games

it's just getting too much to be honest but we make a lot of money but at the same time you know uh when it come to analy analytical things uh introspective things about industry you don't see too much of that um I mean we I don't think where there's too much journalism going hap happening in the industry uh holding people accountable I I think it's just mostly for entertainment but there's no real journalism there's no one really going into these uh you know getting the dirt on on these business calls um like what what these decisions mean like even up to this point you the last two years I haven't really read anything that uh gave any impactful uh impactful just uh conclusions about what's going on right to to really help people um I see

we see that more in other Industries even in Tech right that everything's break broken down uh so that uh we understand you know what the age of AI means for everything and how how how that industry is is going to affect everything else with the game industry we're always just talking about oh this one Marvel RI is killing and uh you know fortnite's coming up with another thing um but we're not really looking at how many jobs been really lost what does this mean for the younger generation what does this mean to people who are at near retirement uh what does this mean in the next five years you know with AI with everything uh talking to developers what their thoughts are everyone's kind of like um I've always said this before about the mobile industry and the triple industry it's very SE segregated I feel like we're more segregated than ever even now within

those own sectors like those these triaa game companies we don't really talk to each we have no idea everything's so secretive in terms of Ip yes I understand that but in terms of practices like I don't know too much about unless I'm talking to my friend uh what's going on with this tensent I mean that you know I'll save that for the round table next week when I talk to Ray but 10cent you know just a couple days ago have been CL classified as a uh uh military company like uh let me look that up real quick let me I don't want to misquote that because I was I saw this article earlier like when this news hit it dropped 8% but you know companies with the stock market you know it can drop eight % anywhere but uh yeah

10 set shares fall 8% in Hong Kong after us designates it as a Chinese military company right um other Chinese company at list included there's a lot of other companies there's a lot of tension going on with China but what does this mean there's so much money from the Chinese into American uh Us game companies right now right and uh like even epic Riot like what does this mean uh is it going to go through the Tik Tock thing where they're forced to sell their shares or their own ownership their stake of in the company to survive or do they have to ban everything right so that's a big deal uh and I can't see anyone kind of taking that and and breaking it down for us Gamers Us game veterans Us game developers because obviously that will affect us there's a lot of Chinese money

in a lot of these American game companies I mean last 5 10 years I mean just alone epic games and and Riot is is 10cent percentage wise even epic games had to like uh 10 cent uh chair people have to kind of resign their seats uh from the epic game a board of directors for for for the same reasons right so this this year I really want to dig into that at least kind of for myself uh to to answer those questions as much as possible talk to the right people and get their thoughts on it because I think it is a shame in terms of content there's not a lot out there that really look at the bigger picture you know of us as an industry it's just about entertainment and I think that's the wrong way to go about it hence why why we're not very United when we are

going through something like this I thought that if this doesn't cause some kind of uproar in terms of I don't know if even Union unionizing is the answer but to lose 20,000 jobs and just come in and just not have anything for 6 month eight months in a lot of cases I'm hearing a year of people searching like lives are being destroyed especially those who have served so much time at the company and basically all of us have no security right uh I I really want to explore what what other options are there are we just going to continuously just pray that people are going to these companies are going to take care of us in their best interest or or just roll the dice every time again because I feel like right now yes the Leverage is back to the companies uh hiring

um but we saw that before where it was just two two leverage on that side I always think it's the the best balance is where both gets to say employee employer in contrast the co area as I mentioned many times before I think that it it was way too uh employee heavy in terms of uh sellers market and that caused the shift of into a virus market and I I don't think either of those periods most developers can can survive through we need kind of just like chill everybody's mutually benefiting um and and and that is the best step forward for the industry right but there's so much to explore there's so much to talk about uh I already am back recording a lot of these

episodes and it's talking to a lot of developers who are directly affected by what's been going on and what they see I'm talking to a lot of veterans who's been around for a while and uh just trying to get their perspective uh how how how to move forward right and what they're seeing within the network and um I try to get more like industry analysts uh to come on the show too so that they can really give us a broader picture of what this means because like I said just me sitting in my room Thinking Out Loud there are long-term effects of what's going on like I said um before there's just a lot of developers that are not coming back and uh I think that's a big shame uh because for an industry to evolve we have to be able to

have the older fellas and gals uh kind of passing their knowledge onto the younger generation in terms of mistakes or things to avoid and how to develop games as games are getting harder to develop we need more veterans to guide the younger generation uh to save time because literally that's what it is when you think about a game's budget it's nothing right uh about anything else but the people it's literally when you make a budget to make a game there's salaries yes a very small portion of that are equipment and software and in a lot some cases overhead right uh but it's mostly salary the bulk of that is salary and if you have so many people uh on on a project and everyone's kind of doing this for

the first time or second time even that's not enough you're going to make the same mistake it's going to add more years hence more salary hence more of a chance of things flopping and and kind of repeating itself again right uh this this bad cyclical nature of the game industry where we're just pumping out flops uh because we're just repeating the mistakes of uh our colleagues before right um and if you track successful companies and there's very few that continue a uh the same crew right the same developers uh they tend to have a higher success rate because they know each other they work together before things move it's a Well oil machine right it's true for any industry but especially the game industry in a creative field like this that has only been the way some

some those are the one of the key ingredients for success or or or calculable success right um and we're losing that we're losing a lot of that especially how this people are definitely definitely are not trusting their companies anymore uh as Ray would put it is like you should never trust your company but you kind of have to have a little bit of trust that the team will stick together right and if everyone's just looking at the next best thing and uh from one project to the next I I think that's a very short-term thinking of of um you know if you're looking to be in this business till 60 or 50 right you're talking about 30 years uh of a career uh if you're just thinking it in two to threee term and then moving to another company for

whatever reason salary or just you know being more responsibilities or or whatever the case right we run in situations like this and this great reset so I'm very interested to talking more about how bad is the damage uh longterm right in terms of these teams in terms of how competitive we are now uh in in the US market um and you know what what what the rest of the business models will look like in the next five years uh it's the first time in my career that looking back that if my son right or anyone uh a student is asking me like what should I concentrate on like I really don't know um aside from like you need to start

building your own audience learn how to make a game on your own just putting out there at the same time support yourself with something else uh don't put all your eggs in one basket on just that g you know put your savings in there and uh pray for a hit right it's uh like even climbing the corporate ladder right now at a job seems very uncertain I don't know if you can even do that anymore with the way things are uh the last two years where people were just laid off um because of the reset right so I I I want to inspire as many people as possible this year uh with the guess research the topics that I'm interested in uh in terms of just what the five years look like and uh hopefully you guys will

be uh tagging along that ride and journey with me but I want to thank you guys sorry if for those who were wondering when I'm going to come back uh just needed that nice vacation I love potting I do end up missing it a lot talking to you guys and I'm glad that I'm able to come back with a lot more energy uh and the industry have remained very chaotic so there's plenty of things to talk about uh I don't think we'll ever run out of topics and there's a lot of exciting technology coming into the mix um I do feel yes the great reset there is a pause going on right now a lot of uncertainty a lot of the games that we're seeing coming out are games that obviously have been started years ago and are just finishing

up I do feel there'll be a period the after effects of these uh layoffs uh where there's just not a lot of big games coming out and I think that's coming soon all right the next couple years there might be like smaller games that come out but not these big budget games because obviously there's nobody left on the team to work on them right so uh these are all the things I want to talk about um to to people about yes covid developing years and then these last two years and a lot of canceled projects what does that mean how did they find out um you know what kind of conversations were being had to to make these decisions uh because even through cancellation you kind of learn more about these bigger management companies um or management of these big companies uh see right uh because they have data two three

years down the line they have access to the conversations around Hollywood movies coming out two three years down the line they they know like exactly what people will be interested and the trend where the trends are so a lot of that factors into to why they keep a project or cancel a project yes they look at the status of the project but a lot of it too is like you know how how How likely will this project project suceed and those are the type of data I think will be very helpful for for for all of you guys for myself uh to listen to and and learn from but you know this is a shorter episode I just want to say I'm back and I'm looking forward to talking to you guys join me next week for the first round table of 2025 and uh every Tuesday uh in the morning all right see you guys

[Music] [Music]