Bits & Bytes is a weekly column the place Editor-in-Chief Robert shares his ideas about video video games and the business on a lazy Sunday. Mild studying for a day of relaxation, Bits & Bytes is brief, to the purpose, and one thing to learn with a pleasant drink.
Did you miss me? Yeah, me neither. Anyhoo, Bits & Bytes is again after a protracted hiatus as there’s lots to speak about nonetheless on this planet of video video games. This time round it’s the long-gestating acquisition of Activision/Blizzard by Microsoft. And the entire thing stinks, I let you know.
Not essentially simply due to the, let’s say, seemingly doubtful nature of how the deal got here to fruition (allegedly, or no matter different qualifier I have to put right here to remain out of authorized hassle). No, for me it stinks as a result of mergers of this ilk and of this scale inevitably result in layoffs. There are numerous staff in any respect three corporations who’re probably watching their inboxes with bated breath as they marvel in the event that they’ll be among the many first despatched packing as soon as the company bean counters begin determining who to axe with a purpose to save a couple of pennies.
It’s the secret in terms of the online game business, sadly. Small corporations spend their time scrambling for funding, residing precariously from the income generated by every undertaking, whereas bigger corporations minimize workers even after multimillion-dollar success tales. There are exceptions, in fact, however overwhelmingly it feels wish to work in video video games is to be a part of a by no means ending lose-lose state of affairs. Except somebody manages to cement a lead function or some place of observe and energy, on a regular basis staff are absolute cannon fodder.
Which completely sucks when contemplating the effort and time it takes to get the type of specialised schooling one wants simply to get a foot by way of the door to land one in all these jobs within the first place. Now, Microsoft has gotten its arms on one of many largest corporations in all the business and I will probably be flabbergasted if we don’t begin seeing pink slips begin to flutter down from the rafters that the payroll vultures sit perched in. Nevertheless, as I’ve famous to my college students, I truthfully don’t know what fixes this ongoing drawback. Some proceed to tout unionization as the reply, however I don’t know if it’s the panacea that so many social media pundits and half-baked journalists assume it’s.
Nonetheless, if there’s any silver lining to be discovered right here, it’s that Microsoft appears pretty devoted to retaining no less than among the properties underneath the umbrella of Activision/Blizzard multiplatform. When the corporate acquired developer Mojang again in 2014, many speculated that Minecraft would turn out to be unique to Xbox and Home windows platforms. As a substitute, Microsoft realized that limiting entry to the sport would have successfully killed its worth and to today has maintained Minecraft on just about each little bit of {hardware} it may well run on. That very same mindset appears to be carrying by way of right here, no less than for now, particularly as Microsoft continues to proclaim that the long run is cloud gaming and never devoted {hardware}.
We’ll see what the long run holds. I simply really feel dangerous for the employees that will probably be searching for new jobs. Let’s hope I’m mistaken.