A wave of innovative indie games bring a sense of optimism to an industry in urgent need of a confidence boost
• Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here
It’s a deeply unhappy time for game developers, as anyone paying attention to the games industry this year will know. Thousands of jobs have fallen victim to corporate cost-cutting, as in-progress games have been cancelled and award-winning studios closed. The mood is furious and despondent.
“I feel such despair for the medium I love,” a reader wrote in response to last week’s newsletter. “The layoffs have been so disheartening from the potential that’s being squandered in the name of even more grotesque levels of profit taking, let alone the impact this is having on the people who actually make the games.” He asked: “Do you see a way forward for developers to make great games on a decent budget and pay their staff a living wage? Some hope would be appreciated.”
About Author
More Stories
Virologist Wendy Barclay: ‘Wild avian viruses are mixing up their genetics all the time. It’s like viral sex on steroids’
Microsoft unveils chip it says could bring quantum computing within years
Isaac Newton’s beer mug to go on show in Royal Society exhibition in London