Recent layoffs at BioWare, the studio behind Dragon Age: The Veilguard, have sparked widespread conversation about the current state of the gaming industry. Larian Studios' publishing director, Michael Daus, has again taken to social media to address this issue, emphasizing the importance of valuing employees and holding leadership accountable for job cuts.
Daus argues that significant layoffs between or after projects are preventable. He stresses the critical role of retaining institutional knowledge within development teams for future projects. While acknowledging the financial pressures that sometimes necessitate “trimming the fat,” he questions the excessive efficiency drives of large corporations, suggesting that such aggressive cost-cutting, manifested in widespread layoffs, is ultimately counterproductive. This approach might be justifiable if consistent successes were being delivered, but it's clearly not a sustainable solution.
Daus points out that the root problem lies in the strategic decisions made by upper management, yet the consequences are always borne by lower-level employees. He uses the analogy of a pirate ship, where the captain would be the first to be thrown overboard in times of crisis, suggesting that the gaming industry should adopt a similar approach to accountability.
