Over the previous few months, Baldur's Gate 3's builders have used its platform during awards season speeches to advocate for a healthier game industry. This custom now extends to its publishing director, who, in a recent interview with Game File, shared his ideas on industry-wide layoffs plaguing developers over the previous two years as an "avoidable fuck up."
Chief amongst 2024's large layoffs embody Nintendo announcing its restructuring in March which has the potential to have an effect on over 100 contract staff; Sony laying off roughly 900 employees in February — together with builders throughout studios like Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Guerrilla, and Microsoft laying off 1,900 staff from its workforce in January following its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The complicated and avoidable nature of layoffs
Speaking with Game File's Steven Totilo, Michael Douse likened main gaming firms to large oil tankers predicated on their capability to steer towards sucess. Should a firm fail to plan accordingly, whereas giving builders correct financial reserves to pivot, fallout by way of layoffs is sure to return. Instead of feeling like layoffs are an inevitable side of the gaming industry, Douse argues that they’re avoidable.
"But to prevent these giant operational failures that we call layoffs…they are an avoidable f*ck up. That's really all they are," Douse advised Game File. "That's why you see one after the other. Because companies are going: ‘Well, finally. Now we can, too. We've wanted to do it for ages. Everyone else is. So why don't we?’ That's really kind of sick.’"
Douse went on to notice that none of the corporate's issuing layoffs are at risk of going bankrupt, however are as an alternative at risk of "pissing off the shareholders." This shareholder-motivated business mindset was one thing Larian CEO Swen Vincke called out during his acceptance speech for Baldur's Gate 3's Best Narrative award. Douse echoed Vincke's sentiments, saying firms ought to as an alternative curb their greed and plan higher in order that builders have enough financial reserves accessible to pivot ought to they need to steer a game in a completely different path.
"[Layoffs] a very, very complex and nuanced decision, Douse said. "But the concept that it's an inevitability that has to occur, It's simply not true."
Douse credited much of Baldur's Gate 3's achievements, namely maintaining a healthy work environment for its employees to Larian Studios being a privately owned company unbeholden to shareholders. When asked whether Larian Studios would ever go public, Douse said it might give them more money but it would be "antithetical to the standard half of what we're attempting to do."
"So it wouldn't make our video games higher. It would simply make us rushed," Douse said. "If you requested us what Baldur's Gate III would appear to be, how a lot it could value and how it could really feel three years in the past, I wouldn't know. We simply took it day-to-day. As an operation, we created reserves. We scoped up based mostly on what we thought we might need and created reserves and fallbacks, simply in case we must. Luckily, we don't must. We're simply nimble. Being nimble is essential. Big firms will not be nimble."
Passive marketing vs socially resonate communication
While Douse doesn't ascribe to the notion that the video games industry is on the verge of collapse, he does think its traditional methods of marketing on social media websites like Twitter/X are becoming less important.
"I imply, for Baldur's Gate III we didn't actually do a lot of advertising and marketing. People speak in regards to the bear scene as a large advertising and marketing beat. It wasn't. It was a communication: Something we determined to do to showcase one excessive of romance within the game, versus the Karlach scene within the restaurant."
Douse went on to argue that marketing, while a form of communication, doesn't generate the social resonance online that people want to engage in meaningful conversations over.
"A game's success is outlined by how socially resonant it’s," Douse said. "It's not outlined by a one that determined this game was profitable. Which is a sensible factor."
Toward the latter half of the interview, Douse drew parallel to Baldur's Gate 3's critical and commercial sucess, despite being a a "fucking CPRG(*3*)They took a bunch of mechanics they knew people preferred, made a game that was unbothered by what a game must be, and so they gave it on to gamers who determined to purchase it. That's actually fucking easy. It’s not rocket science," Douse said. "The analysts are confused, as a result of they didn't see it coming. And they need fundamental information units and predictability. They're gonna be confused a lot sooner or later. Me, too. I like being confused. We work greatest in chaos."
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance author for IGN. You can observe them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh