It seems like every other week a game studio is massively laying off employees; sometimes after years of development. What I’m reading is that it’s a quick way to lower expenses and pad the investors’ pockets, flooding the market with developers and reducing their value, to then hire them back a few months later at lower salaries.
So, what’s holding back gamedevs from banding together to either unionize or start their own companies with better conditions that the purely money-driven studios? Why aren’t they trying to be better? Nobody willing to invest in them? Does starting a company together mean they will now be the bosses who have to answer to the investors, ensure returns, and fire employees? Is the world just an entire shit-cake?
Hades II just dropped by SGG, which is basically what y’all are calling for. This system is viable once you’ve had your first quasi-successful game. That first game is the problem though - it’s a massive hurdle. So many groups seek bigger companies to support them. After that, you’re theirs. Especially if you make a hit.
There are also other factors such as running a studio means running a business. If you’re a developer, you might have very little interest in that. So you instead get hired by a company which enables you to get a paycheck as you do the thing you actually enjoy.
Additionally, there is marketing and distribution. Do not underestimate how much connections matter when marketing and distributing your game. And yes, everyone needs to market. Which means labor and cost you need to sort out.