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Jason Schreier Book 2 - Why is the video game industry so volatile?
- Thread starter Cruxist
- Start date
The book criticizes capitalism. It does not mention communism. It's an analysis of capitalism.
Because consumer opinions are lighting quick and turn faster than any weather vane.
And because the ultimate commodity is fun, and you cannot predict where the next hit is coming from.
It's a world where your entire franchise, revenue stream of hundreds of millions of dollars and the future of your 9 figure esports league is upended Overnight because a small Korean studio made PUBG and put a stranglehold on the first person shooter market.
It's somewhere where in the past few years literally two mods, Battlegrounds and Auto Chess, have *changed the fortunes of billion dollar companies*.
Not to mention the Harvest Moon franchise basically being reborn as a genre because one guy in his basement made Stardew Valley and other crazy shit.
When billion dollar businesses are being upended by people in their bedrooms, well that is volatile.
And it works because the fundamental business of gamedev, the gameplay loop, isn't a commodity that you can production line or predict, ultimately it's sheer creativity that generates it.
And because the ultimate commodity is fun, and you cannot predict where the next hit is coming from.
It's a world where your entire franchise, revenue stream of hundreds of millions of dollars and the future of your 9 figure esports league is upended Overnight because a small Korean studio made PUBG and put a stranglehold on the first person shooter market.
It's somewhere where in the past few years literally two mods, Battlegrounds and Auto Chess, have *changed the fortunes of billion dollar companies*.
Not to mention the Harvest Moon franchise basically being reborn as a genre because one guy in his basement made Stardew Valley and other crazy shit.
When billion dollar businesses are being upended by people in their bedrooms, well that is volatile.
And it works because the fundamental business of gamedev, the gameplay loop, isn't a commodity that you can production line or predict, ultimately it's sheer creativity that generates it.
I hope it's more about how volatility affects people and less about why volatility exists in the gaming market. Other than that, I'm excited to read this one, Blood Sweat and Pixel was pretty good.
The greater discussion of late capitalism aside, why have so many people come into this thread answering Jason's thesis question as if he were seriously asking?
That's what the fucking book is about, y'all.
That's what the fucking book is about, y'all.
It's a shame that no German publishing house wanted to translate the book. At least there's a French version.
Looking forward to the next book. Is it coming out this year?
Looking forward to the next book. Is it coming out this year?
I wonder if people replying with communism and 'seize the terms of production!' are serious or not. Literally this is the only forum where that would happen, lol.
The first reason is... just the same as the first book from Jason. Game development is hard as hell. One company can make a great game and found themselves with unexpected problems and years of delay in the next one. With these starting conditions, game industry will be always volatile.
The second reason is, a supply/demand market problem. Just look at Steam or any mobile store, there is xx times more games than needed/the market can support. Even 15 years ago, before the explosion of smartphones and indie development, it always has been said that most retail games don't get to make profits. It isn't primarily a quality issue, honestly I don't believe people are going to buy 4 times more games than they do currently even if the average metacritic score goes up by 8 points. Much less 15 times which is closer to what it would be needed now, or find 15 times more people to buy games (which would be in detriment of other industries, because surprise, money isn't infinite)
Ironically good ol'fashioned communism would indeed fix some of these issues, by ordering people to some other industries and directly addressing the supply issue.
The first reason is... just the same as the first book from Jason. Game development is hard as hell. One company can make a great game and found themselves with unexpected problems and years of delay in the next one. With these starting conditions, game industry will be always volatile.
The second reason is, a supply/demand market problem. Just look at Steam or any mobile store, there is xx times more games than needed/the market can support. Even 15 years ago, before the explosion of smartphones and indie development, it always has been said that most retail games don't get to make profits. It isn't primarily a quality issue, honestly I don't believe people are going to buy 4 times more games than they do currently even if the average metacritic score goes up by 8 points. Much less 15 times which is closer to what it would be needed now, or find 15 times more people to buy games (which would be in detriment of other industries, because surprise, money isn't infinite)
Ironically good ol'fashioned communism would indeed fix some of these issues, by ordering people to some other industries and directly addressing the supply issue.
Well people are discussing the topic of the book, if not this thread would be people just saying cool, can't wait to read, loved his first book....
Not to mention that it continues past game development and you then have to deal with "the fans".
I swear, the games medium is a lot more fucking savage at times than ancient arena blood sports were.
I swear, the games medium is a lot more fucking savage at times than ancient arena blood sports were.
One, Das Kapital isn't about communism, but a criticism of capitalism. It is precisely the answer to why the games industry, among almost all other capitalist modes of production, are "volatile". A book on game development that doesn't include Marx or mention the word capitalism is at best a superficial analysis.
Two, have you looked outside the window or read the news lately? With a sixth mass extinction , historical high wealth inequality, literal concentration camps by those in power, and of course game devs getting exploited, I don't know how much more volatile it can get.
The one that stuck out to me was I think Creative Assembly spending ages developing a Halo MMORPG without any indication at all from Microsoft this was something they wanted or would allow.
Anyway, all the 'lol capitalism' responses are so reductive as if there are many other industries that function in free market economies that don't experience these things.
love 2 buy books about exploitation of game developers during a sale which is being actively picketed by exploited workers
Really liked his first book.
Maybe it's the extract of the post but it makes it sound like Jason is singling out the video game industry as being more volatile than other industries. In my experience every industry has cycles, there are tough managers, companies in every industry.
I wonder if Jason has experienced other industries. I hope so as it will give the book greater comparisons.
Maybe it's the extract of the post but it makes it sound like Jason is singling out the video game industry as being more volatile than other industries. In my experience every industry has cycles, there are tough managers, companies in every industry.
I wonder if Jason has experienced other industries. I hope so as it will give the book greater comparisons.
I think a lot of people think there are a bunch of obvious and well known for a very long time reasons for the volatility, hence some replies not being super serious.
Communist states inevitably collapse after a fairly short time, so by nature I'd say they are more volatile. Do you really think the USSR, North Korea, or Cuba were models of economic stability? Or that they didn't produce huge wealth inequality? How is the game industry working in those countries (if at all)?
Commies will tell you they werent communist countries, because Stalin, Pol Pot and son.
I mean, I doubt that the book will focus on the capitalistic problems of our economy guys. If anything, I would bet it focuses more on the changes our industry has to implement (like unionization)
Loved BSP, can't wait for this one. Stories need to be told and Jason is the man for the job.
Loved BSP, can't wait for this one. Stories need to be told and Jason is the man for the job.
Looking forward to this. Jason is one of the best people to tackle this and I hope he can dig deep on both the human and financial sides of the business. Real numbers are hard to come by, but some visibility into what they look like would be useful context for both the business overall and individual anecdotes where things didn't turn out as planned.
Also, can really relate to the bit about "all hands meeting" invites. I would get mini panic attacks about them for a couple years after my first big layoff and game cancellation.
You can discuss the topics of the book and your perspective on it without responding directly to the thread title like it was asking for an answer.
Reading the entire thing should offer more context: https://tinyletter.com/jasonschreier/letters/blood-sweat-and-pixels-2-bloodier-sweatier-pixelier
Marx's critiques of capitalism are still worth engaging with; dismissing their relevance to the game industry is the actually stupid take here.
Yeah, they clearly never touched a Marx book. Even the most liberal economist will do that in their lives, but some of y'all will just say "communism??? Rly?? Lmao!!!"
Don't know if you can say anything yet, but do you plan to compare the videogame industry to other industries as other posters have mentioned to show why the videogame industry is currently so volatile/where it should go? I feel like a lot of people bring up the film industry as one that is similar to videogames but more mature, but having not worked in either I would have no idea.
OP
OP
Didn't realize there was a web link! Added it to the op so folks can subscribe and read the whole email.
You probably shouldn't resist that Final Fantasy XIV urge. Having just finished Shadowbringers last night, it was great. Off to level RDM and DNC!
This is what I took away from the book. As a project manager for a bank I was cringing pretty hard through large segments of the book. The message for a lot of chapters was "these people have no idea how to manage a major multi-year project through to completion". And you're bang on with the criticism needing to be reversed - instead of fearing "Corporate influence" there should be more professional structure and oversight implemented in projects like this. Leaving the creatives to manage the entire project is going to naturally end in months and months of wasted time, which drives people to crunch to make up for lost time.
This method will stifle creativity to some extent but it is intended to focus attention and minimise wasted effort. It will not eliminate crunch but will certainly help reduce the numbers of situations that forces crunch or delay.
I hope in the second book the management is given a harder grilling on why they are unable to manage these projects and waste significant amounts of developer time, as they all got an easy pass in the last book.
This is a great post, and echoes what I was thinking the entire time I was reading Jason's stellar Anthem piece.