3 ms·
The article sort of answers this. There are so many other opportunities in the US that pay better (and have a saner lifestyle) for many of the same skill sets.
by ghaff 2y ago
The article sort of answers this. There are so many other opportunities in the US that pay better (and have a saner lifestyle) for many of the same skill sets.
- pizzathyme 2y agoExactly. Other parts of the US economy (tech giants) have grown much faster than the games industry. A UX designer at Apple makes multiples of a UX designer at Blizzard.
- corysama 2y agoThere was some grumbling a few years ago that game engine devs were hard to retain because they keep getting pulled away by FAANG cash to optimize servers. I did game engines for a long time. Now I optimize robots.
- surfingdino 2y agoThat's how capitalism is supposed to work, no?
- zx8080 2y agoActually, yes. PS. Why is the above comment being downvoted?
- ghaff 2y agoI suppose it could come across as a cynical capitalism-bad take. However, read literally, it's just that people take jobs with appropriate rewards (financial and otherwise) for their situation which seems perfectly reasonable.
- corysama 2y agoYep.
- beloch 2y agoStar Trek Online is an aging MMO that still receives regular updates and generates regular income thanks to a built-in fanbase. Obviously, it's not wildly profitable but Cryptic, the studio running it, has been getting by. They're based in California, so their salaries are high by world standards. Earlier this year, a firm named "Embracer Group" bought up a whole bunch of studios, including Cryptic. Their approach was to create a new studio headquartered in Berlin that uses remote workers living in cheaper areas of the globe. They're having Cryptic train their replacements at the new company before they are, in turn, laid off. Long story short, the business types believe that software developers are a fungible commodity and see no difference between a home-working Mumbai developer and someone living in Silicon valley, except for what they must be paid. Only time will tell if this view will result in bigger profits or the death of everything firms like Embracer Group touch.
- ThrowawayR2 2y agoThat the automotive industry, consumer electronics industry, computer hardware industry, and (arguably) chip fabrication industry are largely centered outside of the US despite having been pioneered within the US should already tell you what's likely to happen. Talent is talent, where ever it may be.
- TeaBrain 2y agoThe word "talent" has morphed into a buzzword that more aligns with cost optimization, than the traditional meaning of the word.
- surfingdino 2y agoEvery other client of mine uses offshore teams. They more time zones away from the HQ they are the worse the results.