Any news on gaming companies being hit by market collapse?

[Azrael the cat]

A bit random I know, my apologies in advance if this topic is a bit retarded - I'm just curious. With the worst share market crash (in the US) since the Great Depression, has there been any news about the fallout upon gaming companies? I would have thought that EA and some of the other biggies would be in a league where that kind of thing would seriously hurt them. So far Australia is riding ok cause of China supporting our mining boom, but we don't have any big gaming companies anyway- and I think Europe is being hit reasonably hard by the US crash. So anyone know if any gaming companies are scaling down their production, or closing house? Is it going to cause publically-listed publishers to become even more hostile to innovative developers until things pick up? Just wondering if anyone here is in the know (you Obsidian employees that spend all day spamming these forums rather than working on your Aliens RPG - Anthony Davis I'm looking at YOU - feel free to enlighten us).

 

[Heresiarch]

I've heard they blame piracy for the market crash.

 

[Fez]

I've heard they blame piracy for the market crash.

Oh, well done.

 

[uhjghvt]

worst stock market crash since the great depression? this isn't even the worst stock market crash this decade

 

[J1M]

It's unlikely any game companies are going to be affected by mortgage and debt resellers having problems.

Their costs are just labor and they are usually funded by publishers who have lots of money due to consistent growth.

 

[sportforredneck]

I've heard they blame piracy for the market crash.

Those barbary bastards. Send in the marines.

 

[Azrael the cat]

I've heard they blame piracy for the market crash.

Oh, well done.

Hehe, that got me thinking - in parts of southeast asia real-life piracy is still a big problem. There's been several commercial ships and even the odd tourist liner that have been taken hostage by pirates with ak47s etc. I'd laugh myself to tears if one of those pirate ships ever manages to run into and board a shipment of computer games, which they could then steal and onsell. Piracy AND irony

 

[bossjimbob]

It's unlikely any game companies are going to be affected by mortgage and debt resellers having problems.

Their costs are just labor and they are usually funded by publishers who have lots of money due to consistent growth.

Pretty much. Some studios have closed as of late, but it's not due to the market but instead from corporate restructuring to compensate for lagging sales on certain products that failed to take off (or weren't made well), or from failing to find a publisher, etc. If anything, I would expect game companies to grow considerably in this market because people will be cutting back on spending disposable income on watching films at the theater, eating out, and drinking at the bar in favor of picking up a 12-pack and playing games at home (alone or with family/friends). I'd call it a hunch, but it pretty much mirrors my spending trends these past few months.