Some more sad industry news here as developer Puny Human put out a press release noting that they're closing up, citing an unnamed client that refused to pay them. They're on track to remove all full-time positions before the year is up, while also liquidating any assets left by including selling them off and open sourcing certain others.
Puny Human created Dystopia, Blade Symphony and Galacide. They also worked with other developers on titles including Trover Saves the Universe, Wasteland 3, The Bard’s Tale IV, Tribes of Midgard, The Callisto Protocol and various others.
In the press release their CEO Mike Sanders noted how "Unfortunately, a client refused previously agreed-upon payments, which deprived us of the cash flow to fully pitch our in-progress title and triggered successive failures in our operating income. I take full responsibility for not sufficiently preparing for this outcome". The press release also notes they were looking to work on a spiritual successor to Dystopia, titled Zero Day, with hopes to "secure venture capital funding by quarter 2 of 2023".
Shame to see, there's been an increasing amount of companies being shut or laying off lots of staff and it seems it's set to continue.
A more personal letter was also released.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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12 comments
Linux_Rocks Oct 3, 2023
Well that just plain sucks.
1 Likes, Who?
Back in the late nineties, a customer of the little company I worked for called: He asked us to write the bill now, so he could pay us at last. Those were the days, my friend!
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I read the letter . . . sounds like it's been really tough, and I feel for him.
But it really hit me, the way he was writing it's like there's some kind of massive 2008-style recession. But in the broader economy, there isn't really. North America's basically OK by recent standards except for insanely expensive housing, which is a really big deal but I mean unemployment is low and economic growth seems to be happening. As I understand it Britain is in tough shape, mostly due to a series of self-inflicted wounds and self-inflicted Conservative governments, and Germany's not doing well because of expensive/scarce natural gas due to geopolitical reasons, but overall it doesn't seem like the general economy is as bad as the situation seems to be for gaming companies. Anyone know why the gaming industry in particular is in bad shape?
But it really hit me, the way he was writing it's like there's some kind of massive 2008-style recession. But in the broader economy, there isn't really. North America's basically OK by recent standards except for insanely expensive housing, which is a really big deal but I mean unemployment is low and economic growth seems to be happening. As I understand it Britain is in tough shape, mostly due to a series of self-inflicted wounds and self-inflicted Conservative governments, and Germany's not doing well because of expensive/scarce natural gas due to geopolitical reasons, but overall it doesn't seem like the general economy is as bad as the situation seems to be for gaming companies. Anyone know why the gaming industry in particular is in bad shape?
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soulsource Oct 3, 2023
Anyone know why the gaming industry in particular is in bad shape?While I can't comment on the industry as a whole, there's still a lot of fallout from the financial troubles of the Embracer group. They not only own a lot of game dev studios, but also several publishers.
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and Germany's not doing well because of expensive/scarce natural gas due to geopolitical reasons
... which we're depending on more than we should.
But I found these GNP numbers:
2022 +1.9
Q1 23 -0,1
Q2 23 0,0
Predicted 23 -0,4
Predicted 24 +1,4
Predicted 25 +1,2
So I've got hopes we don't bring trouble to (gaming) world economy. ;-)
Last edited by Eike on 3 October 2023 at 7:28 pm UTC
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I read the letter . . . sounds like it's been really tough, and I feel for him.
But it really hit me, the way he was writing it's like there's some kind of massive 2008-style recession. But in the broader economy, there isn't really. North America's basically OK by recent standards except for insanely expensive housing, which is a really big deal but I mean unemployment is low and economic growth seems to be happening. As I understand it Britain is in tough shape, mostly due to a series of self-inflicted wounds and self-inflicted Conservative governments, and Germany's not doing well because of expensive/scarce natural gas due to geopolitical reasons, but overall it doesn't seem like the general economy is as bad as the situation seems to be for gaming companies. Anyone know why the gaming industry in particular is in bad shape?
AFAIK gaming took off during the pandemic leading many venture capitalists to make heavy investments in gaming and then the pandemic ended, gaming first diminished and then in 2023 made a small denture up but not the massive constant increase that the VC:s demands and now they are trying to jump ship so some have removed their prior agreed upon investments (looks to be what hit both Embracer and Puny Human) and/or demanding huge layoffs and spending cuts to increase profits.
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I read the letter . . . sounds like it's been really tough, and I feel for him.
But it really hit me, the way he was writing it's like there's some kind of massive 2008-style recession. But in the broader economy, there isn't really. North America's basically OK by recent standards except for insanely expensive housing, which is a really big deal but I mean unemployment is low and economic growth seems to be happening. As I understand it Britain is in tough shape, mostly due to a series of self-inflicted wounds and self-inflicted Conservative governments, and Germany's not doing well because of expensive/scarce natural gas due to geopolitical reasons, but overall it doesn't seem like the general economy is as bad as the situation seems to be for gaming companies. Anyone know why the gaming industry in particular is in bad shape?
afaik recent numbers show the UK is also getting in better shape and has higher growth than Germany so the economic situation is similar to the US in those terms. But terrible housing quality, overcrowding, crippled essential services, polluted water systems etc.. proves that a country cannot survive on 'GDP' alone.
Last edited by Lofty on 3 October 2023 at 9:57 pm UTC
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Mountain Man Oct 3, 2023
I read the letter . . . sounds like it's been really tough, and I feel for him.The economy is not good in the US. Yes, the official unemployment number is low, but our labor force participation rate remains below pre-pandemic levels, meaning that a significant number of people have simply dropped out of the labor market. Gas prices remain very high, which affects the cost of goods and services. Inflation has slowed but is still rising, so every day, working Americans find that their spending power is slightly less than it was the day before. I'm hoping things finally turn around in the next year or two, but I'm not optimistic.
But it really hit me, the way he was writing it's like there's some kind of massive 2008-style recession. But in the broader economy, there isn't really. North America's basically OK by recent standards except for insanely expensive housing, which is a really big deal but I mean unemployment is low and economic growth seems to be happening. As I understand it Britain is in tough shape, mostly due to a series of self-inflicted wounds and self-inflicted Conservative governments, and Germany's not doing well because of expensive/scarce natural gas due to geopolitical reasons, but overall it doesn't seem like the general economy is as bad as the situation seems to be for gaming companies. Anyone know why the gaming industry in particular is in bad shape?
So to answer your question, when it's a matter of keeping a roof over your head and food on the table versus a frivolous expense like video games, the latter will lose every time. That's why the entertainment industry seems to be getting hit particularly hard right now.
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Woodlandor Oct 3, 2023
As a business owner in Canada (HVAC industry), I can tell you that consumer spending has been on the decline throughout this year.
Wars, especially those that effect a necessary resource (oil/gas), raising interest rates and whispering about a possible recession make most of the population a lot more careful with their spending. As you would expect with future uncertainty.
Wars, especially those that effect a necessary resource (oil/gas), raising interest rates and whispering about a possible recession make most of the population a lot more careful with their spending. As you would expect with future uncertainty.
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Lot of insight in a short time there. Thanks everybody!
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Woodlandor Oct 4, 2023
Lot of insight in a short time there. Thanks everybody!
Makes me feel old discussing such topics.
Now get off my lawn!
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