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With studio closures, why is no one talking about the people who sold the studios? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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If the studios didn't get sold to the larger entities, said large entities couldn't had closed them. Why is no one talking about the topic of game studios being sold out to begin with?

This is a genuine question. I'm confused.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

As a game studio - a developer rather than a publisher - it's very much hand to mouth. You are paid by the publishers on delivery of milestones. Milestone reviews can sometimes be subjective. You're basically the lowest link in the food chain and can be subject to a publisher's whim, which can often be a bit random depending on your external producer. Keeping such a studio open in the long term is about chasing new contacts, and any gaps between contacts is expensive because you aren't generating any income, but are having to pay wages. One or two project cancellations can easily shutter an independent developer.

In some cases studio owners may simply want out, or they might legitimately see a sale as bringing stability to the studio... Or it might just be greed. But I think it's hard to say whether a studio would have a safer long term future being independent or being sold.