I really hope these developers create new independent studios and if they ever get offered a big bag of money, they will remember what happened last time. Maybe they will be smart enough to create worker owned studios and not waste huge salaries on useless CEOs.
I won’t bet on that, neither for nor against.
Look at the guy that created Minecraft. He was passionate about his work, had a company that was doing great and with prospect of future growth.
One thousand millions later and the guy checks out a boat load of money and sell off the company: he already had his.
It was also his one game. Youd do the same if you were done with it and offered more money than you could spend in your life.
That’s a very different scenario than a studio having released multiple games over a couple decades being bought out.
Don’t know if I would. Never had such an offer, never will.
I’m not very invested in the game/game studio culture but boiled down it gets to either a private owner or a board of directors deciding if it is the right moment to cash out.
If I ever run a successful company, I am never taking it public, and I hope that I will never accept a sum of money that more than doubles our assets.
I’ve worked in the startup world and seen too many companies fail in all but name when they receive investment money. It really sucks the soul out of a company.
I wish more people would create worker owned cooperatives. They might be more resilient and might even be more productive. Of cause the downside is that they don’t make one person very rich.
