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Games industry layoffs not the result of corporate greed and those affected should "drive an Uber", says ex-Sony president

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
Deering was a guest on games writer Simon Parkin's podcast My Perfect Console, where the pair discussed games industry layoffs.

"I don't think it's fair to say that the resulting layoffs have been greed," said Deering. "I always tried to minimise the speed with which we added staff because I always knew there would be a cycle and I didn't want to end up having the same problems that Sony did in Electronics."



He continued:

"I think it's probably very painful for the managers, but I don't think that having skill in this area [of game dev] is going to be a lifetime of poverty or limitation. It's still where the action is, and it's like the pandemic but now you're going to have to take a few…figure out how to get through it, drive an Uber or whatever, go off to find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year. But keep up with your news and keep up with it, because once you get off the train, it's much harder."
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Source​
 
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Cyberpunkd

Cyberpunkd

Member
Mownoc said:
For those wondering when he was Sony President, and had never heard of him like me, he was president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe from 1995 to 2005.

What a stupid thing to say. "Drive an Uber" lmao.
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Completely out of touch idiot. As a wise man once said: "If you don't have anything smart to say stay quiet - people will think you are mysterious. The moment you open your mouth they will see you are stupid". The guy should take the same advice.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
michael-keaton-hand-job.gif
 
hemo memo

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
Who the fuck is Chris Deering?

Edit:
Mownoc said:
For those wondering when he was Sony President, and had never heard of him like me, he was president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe from 1995 to 2005.
Click to expand...
That’s why

Title should read: “Ex-Sony Europe exec who probably hasn't touched a controller in decades thinks laid-offs should 'drive an Uber”
 
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Timberwolf25

Timberwolf25

Member
He's not completely wrong even if he said it in a dickish way.


There are a lot of companies that needed to cull their staff sooner because they have to much bloat. 343, Bungie, Firewalk comes immediately to mind, but I'm sure there are others as well.
My hope is that most of these layoffs were of the "activist" types that contribute little to nothing to the company. Unfortunately sometimes, some real good employees also get caught up in the reaping of layoffs.

Not gaming related, but I've read recently of companies laying off DEI divisions, and that's good thing to me.

Edit: There's nothing wrong driving for uber or any job for that matter.
 
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ReyBrujo

ReyBrujo

Member
I understand one of the points he's making ("Studios should hire conservatively because if your last game fails you will have a smaller budget for the next one") which should apply to any industry, and I kind of understand the other ("If you have been laid off keep yourself in touch with the industry because technology advances so fast you might be left behind otherwise") but the Uber part is nonsense, I could understand if he said go to the beach for a year as in, rest well and prepare for the next rat race but the way he said it he contradicted himself, drive an Uber and stay in touch... what...
 
Timberwolf25

Timberwolf25

Member
ReyBrujo said:
I understand one of the points he's making ("Studios should hire conservatively because if your last game fails you will have a smaller budget for the next one") which should apply to any industry, and I kind of understand the other ("If you have been laid off keep yourself in touch with the industry because technology advances so fast you might be left behind otherwise") but the Uber part is nonsense, I could understand if he said go to the beach for a year as in, rest well and prepare for the next rat race but the way he said it he contradicted himself, drive an Uber and stay in touch... what...
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Uber driver's are independent contractors that take jobs when they want, so it makes sense to me. If a job in gaming came up, they could easily transition back to that without a problem. In the meantime, they are earning a living by utilizing a vehicle, which they likely already have.
 
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MatrixReloaded101

MatrixReloaded101

Member
A lot of these tech based industries are very volatile there is no job security and this has gotten worst now. That is why he is basically saying " go do something to keep yourself busy until the next role comes awhile" He said it in a very insensitive way but this is how cold some of these industries have gotten.

People working in game development have got to rethink their career paths because I don't think it will get better. Its a high risk (no job security) and high reward (big salaries) field to work in.
 
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S

shamoomoo

Banned
There probably is a shred of truth to Deering's statement,but lack of innovation and the over reliance of established gaming franchises doesn't help his case.
 
ReyBrujo

ReyBrujo

Member
Timberwolf25 said:
Uber driver's are independent contractors that take jobs when they want, so it makes sense to me. If a job in gaming came up, they could easily transition back to that without a problem. In the meantime, they are earning a living by utilizing a vehicle, which they likely already have.
Click to expand...

I mean, they can easily offer their services as programmers, testers, designers, etc, at Fiverr, Freelancer, Workana or similar sites as well and stay working within the industry. Sure, they won't be working on a PS or Xbox game but mobile gachas or similar but at least they will stick to the industry. Nothing wrong with taking Uber, Amazon Flex, Uber Eats, Deliveroo or anything like that but the first option should be sticking within the industry (unless Deering thinks they will stay unemployed for a long time, long enough that they would have to find alternative jobs).
 
D

DussyPestroyer

Banned
Well tbh the guys in video game industry are paid too much for the broken unfinished products they ship. The consumers and industry would be better off if a lot more ubisoft devs were driving ubers honestly
 
Gamer_By_Proxy

Gamer_By_Proxy

Member
SHA said:
There's no quality control with indie games, how to solve this issue? otherwise, we'll just look forward and skip what's already there.
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Even AA and AAA market is over saturated I think. The average gamer age is pretty high now, and adults have less time.
I still have games like FF7 Rebirth and Tales of Arise just sitting around cause I can't get to them yet.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
He's not wrong, he just said it in an incredibly stupid/incendiary way. The truth is sales are down, staffs were over filled, and many studios over hired and over extended themselves. We're in a VERY down year for the tech industry, like worse year in an extremely long time, but there are signs that it'll blow past and demand and staffing capacities will equalize again. Those who are out of a job should do what they need to do to keep their finances intact if they didn't have strong savings to weather the storm. Those who are skilled WILL find employment again as the ice thaws. Those who had no skill and didn't belong in the industry or had no work ethic... well you are going to find it increasingly harder to stay employed in the industry.

That doesn't mean some studio heads aren't being idiots and greedy (Bungie...) but many of them, esspecially the mid sized ones, aren't these billionare playboys people seem to think, or as heartless and hate filled as people claim.
 
Gamer_By_Proxy

Gamer_By_Proxy

Member
SHA said:
They wanted to develop a new trend desperately where it's normal to spend on many games unnecessarily,i could see it happening.
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yea, but I think people will start to wise up and just add games to their wish lists on steam/ps/xbox etc.
I just immediately add anything I'm interested in onto my wish list and see if a sale is worth me pulling the trigger or not.
Like I just got Ryse son of rome for $3.50 cause I didn't wanna spend the fulll $9.99
 
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