Recent layoffs at BioWare, developer of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, have sparked industry-wide conversation. Larian Studios' publishing director, Michael Daus, weighed in on social media, emphasizing the importance of valuing employees and holding leadership accountable for layoffs.
Daus argues that significant team reductions between projects are avoidable. He stresses the critical role of retaining institutional knowledge for future projects. While acknowledging the financial pressures that sometimes necessitate "trimming the fat," he questions the aggressive efficiency strategies of large corporations, suggesting they're often unnecessary. This approach, he points out, is merely extreme cost-cutting, especially when not consistently producing hit games.
He concludes that the core problem lies in upper management's strategies, with lower-level employees disproportionately bearing the consequences—a situation he humorously compares to the fate of a captain on a pirate ship. Daus suggests the video game industry should adopt a more pirate-like management approach.
