Mid-May Roundup + Deconstructing the 'GaaS is killing games' Theory
It's always wise to know which way the wind blows.
Hello fellow narrative designers!
Today I’m deconstructing some games industry business talk I’ve seen all over LinkedIn. If you’re only interested in resources, jump ahead. If you’d like to hear my thoughts on the state of the industry, let’s go!
Is GaaS killing games?
In this time of tumult when, by some counts, roughly 30,000 game workers have been laid off, there are two warring instincts within many of us. The first, I expect, is rage-fueled venting about people’s lives being ruined by the wanton whims of the market (I do this daily). The second is the instinct for self-protection. The side that says, so how can I survive while also fulfilling my dreams? Is that even still an option?
The more emotional side of me was not primed to accept the LinkedIn post of Robin Boyar, an EA veteran turned business strategist, who published the following provocative statement:
“Layoffs. When it's 1 company, it's a poor leader.
When it's 10 companies, it's bad management.
When it's 50 companies, it's an industry trend.”
Boyar posited that gaming consumer behavior has shifted. They are spending primarily on tentpole GaaS titles and not on the “B-side of gaming” (which is an interesting way to label… all other games).
She summed it up with: “I suspect that this is the beginning of a new era in video gaming. And it's going to be painful for a while.”
Obviously, that is poison to the ears of anyone who passionately loves video games. But, let’s not give the suits the pleasure of lording their elite logic over us mere creatives. Let’s dive into this matter, see whether it rings true, and consider ways to weasel a margin for art out of this late capitalist hellscape anyway.
Let’s start with the basics. What the hell is GaaS? You might know that it means Games as a Service, but what does that mean? And why can’t business people speak normally?
Games as a Service are games that monetize after the initial sale—or they may be entirely free to play (F2P) but make money off of micro-transactions. They are often known as live games/live service games because they are continuously updated. Some notable examples are World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and mobile games like Candy Crush or Love & Pies.
Big companies love these games. Their earning potential is exponentially higher than, say, a big juicy AAA game like Red Dead Redemption. If people get hooked they keep playin’ and they keep payin’. As someone who has worked in mobile games all her career, I’ve seen the amount of cash a single ‘whale’ (big spending player) can bring in—and it is, frankly, spiritually unsettling.
But is this really the future of the industry, or just corporate fear-mongering? I think the answer is a bit of both.
Admittedly, the ‘as a Service’ model has happened everywhere else in tech. No one wants to sell you licenses anymore, it’s all subscriptions. PhotoShop, accounting software, etc. And a similar thing has happened in film: studios will only bank large projects that have guaranteed returns and merchandising aligned with them, like The Avengers. For music, we must subscribe to services like Spotify for access to songs we do not own. It is, as we have established, a late-stage capitalist hellscape out here.
However, all industries are different and there will always be exceptions. Baldur’s Gate 3 was incredibly high grossing and undoubtedly the most popular game release of last year and it isn’t particularly GaaS-y.
I don’t think exceptions will ever stop existing, and I KNOW for a fact there’s no holding back the indie games community from continuing to make passionately, fabulously weird and original stuff (which could get a boost as content runs dry due to all these horrific layoffs, see below).
With all this being said, I concede that there will likely be fewer games in the in-between space—less AAA console games that are not sold via subscriptions or peppered with micro-transactions. In this sense, I think it’s fair to say GaaS is the future of commercial games.
Perhaps that’s not ALL bad. From the practical side of things, it can be much nicer to work on a live game—far less crunch and generally much more long-term job stability. But if there are fewer overall jobs in the games industry, what are we to do?
I don’t think there’s an easy answer to this. The future is still being written.
Here’s how I’d look at it from a practical perspective for someone who has to pay rent but wants to work in games: get a job at a studio that makes live games if you can—this includes the wide world of mobile games. It’s still amazing work, if you can get it. It might not feel like Art, but it is way more fun than not working in games. If that is not possible, freelancing is a viable option for narrative designers in particular (many studios don’t have full-time work for narrative designers). If none of the above is possible, try working with or creating indie games at a community like GUMBO or Glitch City or getting into a QA role to pay the bills.
Now, practical advice aside, what should we do as creatives and workers in this industry? We should work toward real change. This IS scary, considering the might of these large companies and the scarcity of jobs, but if we don’t organize and leverage collective strength then we guarantee ongoing suffering for a much longer period of time.
How could it work for narrative designers? Given that our role is often temporary and there’s not a lot of stability, a game writer’s guild similar to the screenwriter’s guild seems appropriate—at least we’d have guaranteed healthcare! There’s much to discuss and I’m still figuring out the first steps myself, but as I posted earlier this month, getting involved with IATSE is a good start.
Those are my humble opinions, but I’d love to hear more from you all—hop into the comments here or on LinkedIn to discuss.
Now, on to the links! Side note: this is just a small selection, a more robust round-up will come out at the beginning of June.
Resources:
A free workshop on writing better dialogue courtesty of Hannah Nicklin!
A detailed list of tools and game engines that you could use to build up your narrative portfolio courtesty of Elise Trinh!
LudoNarraCon happened! Check out their website for any available talks.
Opportunities:
Travel to Scotland to speak at a games conference? Sounds fun to me!
NarraScope is coming up! June 21st to 23rd.
Jobs:
Content Designer at Scopely (Bangalore specific)
Content Designer at Squanch Games (Raleigh, NC)
Narrative Designer at Scopely (remote, California)
Writer II at Humanoid Origin (BC or Alberta)
Game Writer at Torpor Games (Berlin preferred)
Thanks for reading! Pass on the good vibes and share this newsletter with other narrative designers.
About the Writer:
Rose Behar is a narrative designer at Scopely working on a new IP. Her previous work is featured in Longleaf Valley and Ashe Cove by Double Loop Games, among other projects. She puts out the free Narrative News roundup every month.