Publishers are working on ‘bare-bones’ operations

Publishers are trimming back staff and working with bare-bones operations, a publishing exec has claimed.

Speaking to Kotaku, the anonymous industry insider, who works for a large gaming publisher, responded to queries over which areas of the industry were currently struggling, and suggested the most stable place for developers to work was at an internal studio of a large company.

The exec suggested that those who had been laid off at a publisher-owned studio had a good chance of finding a new job within the same company.

“Nothing’s as stable as it used to be,” said the anonymous publisher.

“Publishers are trimming back and working with bare-bones operations, outsourcing jobs, etc. to continue to make a profit. Working for an internal developer is one of the most stable positions, because over half the time if you get laid off, you’ll find a position at another one of the internal studios, just in a different location.”

The exec added that that publishers and developers were less likely to take too many risks with their games given the expensive cost and time it takes to make a blockbuster triple-A title..

“Look, making good games is both complicated and expensive,” said the publisher.

“You won’t buy a game unless it’s the best of the best (at least, you haven’t been), and doing that costs a hell of a lot of time and money. And at the end of that, the game might still not be good!

“Publishers have many failures a year, but they support themselves on the megahits, same as any other industry. All you need are two to three mega-successes, and that’ll keep you moving into next year.

"Take a look at any publisher and see if you can name two widely profitable titles. If you can’t, I’d worry about their long-term stability.”