3 ms·

> There is this recurring theme of big companies rolling up little developers and destroying their development culture Why are the little devs selling to the b

by bix6 3mo ago

> There is this recurring theme of big companies rolling up little developers and destroying their development culture Why are the little devs selling to the big companies in the first place then? If you’re crushing it as an Indie studio why wouldn’t you stay that way knowing how big tech acts?

pjc50 3mo ago
The directors like money. And are probably beholden to their investors.
all2 3mo ago
Money. Someone made a lot of money selling IP and the skills of the team.
munificent 3mo ago
Because big companies can spend way more on marketing than you. If a big company decides to make a game very similar to yours, they can make theirs win by throwing more money into marketing than you can. Do you want them to spend that marketing budget on your competition or on you?
mayoff 3mo ago
Here’s what Tim Schafer said about selling Double Fine to Microsoft at the time: > "I think it's perfect for us, because we can just focus on doing our inspired weird games, and not worry about how we're going to get our next deal. We aren't chasing down our next funding and thinking about how many more months of funding we have all the time." https://gameinformer.com/2019/06/23/tim-schafer-on-microsoft-acquisition-and-the-future-of-double-fine https://gameinformer.com/2019/06/23/tim-schafer-on-microsoft...
- account42 3mo ago
  That's founder speech for "I'm getting a big paycheck out of this deal lol".
SepiaSapient 3mo ago
"Little devs" in this context is still a company that probably has investors, investors that can push for the acquisition. Even if a small dev studio is self funded or has normal debt that they can realistically pay off, the money on the table for the owner is hard to resist. If the owner has qualms, the whole pitch of "we'll give you artistic independence and the funds to make what you want" will seal the deal. The only people that can tell Microsoft to gargle their gonads are already rich as fuck or have a will of steel and principles uncommon with entrepreneurs.

by bix6 3mo ago

pjc50 3mo ago

The directors like money. And are probably beholden to their investors.

all2 3mo ago

Money. Someone made a lot of money selling IP and the skills of the team.

munificent 3mo ago

Because big companies can spend way more on marketing than you. If a big company decides to make a game very similar to yours, they can make theirs win by throwing more money into marketing than you can. Do you want them to spend that marketing budget on your competition or on you?

mayoff 3mo ago

Here’s what Tim Schafer said about selling Double Fine to Microsoft at the time: > "I think it's perfect for us, because we can just focus on doing our inspired weird games, and not worry about how we're going to get our next deal. We aren't chasing down our next funding and thinking about how many more months of funding we have all the time." https://gameinformer.com/2019/06/23/tim-schafer-on-microsoft-acquisition-and-the-future-of-double-fine https://gameinformer.com/2019/06/23/tim-schafer-on-microsoft...

account42 3mo ago
That's founder speech for "I'm getting a big paycheck out of this deal lol".

SepiaSapient 3mo ago

"Little devs" in this context is still a company that probably has investors, investors that can push for the acquisition. Even if a small dev studio is self funded or has normal debt that they can realistically pay off, the money on the table for the owner is hard to resist. If the owner has qualms, the whole pitch of "we'll give you artistic independence and the funds to make what you want" will seal the deal. The only people that can tell Microsoft to gargle their gonads are already rich as fuck or have a will of steel and principles uncommon with entrepreneurs.