It’s no secret that gaming has been through a difficult period over the last few years. Thousands of layoffs, major game failures, and ballooning budgets are just a few of this industry’s problems in recent years.

While things may not get any better anytime soon, it seems studios have begun to identify the main problem. As per a new report, poor management is to blame for games becoming more and more expensive.

Why it matters: Gaming needs to transition to more efficient development if it hopes to stay sustainable for the near future.
Concord Was Shut Down Within Months Of Its Release
As reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, poor management is rampant in the industry. He recalled how one developer noted that many team members from his studio spent half of the year doing nothing apart from watching Netflix and drinking coffee for multiple hours a day.

There were also instances of specific team members being left with little to do while waiting for other teams to catch up. As an example, artists had to wait for the designers while certain developers were on hold until the game’s tools were ready.

These employees are still paid while they wait, leading to millions of dollars being spent on salaries each year. All of this shows exactly why modern games cost as much as they do. As per developers, many features are also cut or changed at the last moment because of executive intervention.

The same problem has led to the rise of live service. CEOs and executives continue to chase live service money, forcing single-player teams to create multiplayer games, resulting in colossal failures like Suicide Squad and Concord. Ultimately, the lack of proper management is detrimental to modern releases.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Was A Major Disappointing From Rocksteady
In the past, developers already blamed management for gaming’s poor state, and a game like Halo Infinite reportedly saw significant intervention from management. In the worst cases, poor management can lead to a team being shut down permanently, as seen last year.