Gaming industry – Game Awards: The fun is waning

For the tenth anniversary of the Game Awards, host Geoff Keighley invited people back to the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles last week. Traditionally the industry’s biggest event of the year. Not only the aging world star Harrison Ford came to the entertainment program, but also the weed-smoking special ambassador of the United States of America, the rapper Snoop Dog. The latter provided some fun with a humorous singing performance, while the 82-year-old actor impressed with a slightly improvised speech – in an otherwise meticulously scripted promotional event for the international gaming industry. The show performances, as well as the award ceremonies during the three-hour event, were all just colorful placeholders for the countless advertisements. Only the laudatory speech by studio boss Swen Vincke referred to the massive upheavals within the industry.

nd.Kompakt – our daily newsletter

Our daily newsletter nd.Compact brings order to the news madness. Every day you will receive an overview of the most exciting stories from the world Editorial team. Get your free subscription here.

As last year’s winner for Game of the Year, the Belgian Vincke gave the laudatory speech for this year’s winner “Astro Bot”. He used his speaking time to take issue with the usual practices in the industry. “The team and the game” should come first in development, he emphasized and spoke out against the common practice of making short-sighted decisions purely to maximize profits. The developers, Vincke continued, “should not be treated like numbers in an Excel spreadsheet” and the “players should not be treated like users who must be exploited at all costs.” Finally, he asked how one should imagine this, “if the game developers don’t have fun in the creation process,” then how is anyone else supposed to have fun with the games?

The reason for his incendiary speech is the poor working conditions in the industry: the very low salaries and the ongoing gender discrimination. The waves of layoffs also continued in 2024: a total of 34,000 people were laid off in the last three years. After all, a prize was awarded at the Game Awards for the “Game Changer of the Year”. It was awarded to Amir Satvat, who works for the Chinese Internet company Tencent. Satvat began creating automated spreadsheets with job offers in 2022. He shared these via social networks and helped around 3,000 people get a new job in the last few years.

Declining sales figures are often cited as the reason for the waves of layoffs. But the statistics don’t show this. Last year, sales of games, hardware and online services grew worldwide by 6.2 percent to 138 billion euros. And the players aren’t getting any fewer either. According to the Association of the German Gaming Industry (Game), six out of ten people in Germany play computer or video games. Almost 48 percent of them are women. On average, players are 38 years old. Most consumers play on their smartphone or a console.

Nevertheless, the industry in Germany still lags behind its international competitors. While there was a wave of start-ups at the start of state funding from 2020, this has recently ebbed significantly, by around 65 percent in the last three years, according to the Game industry association. While 93 new companies were founded in Germany in 2020, last year there were only 33.

We-don’t-give-each-other anything

Our Christmas campaign not only brings the joy of reading, but also warmth and festivity into the house. With the three-month trial subscription you get a pair of left socks from Socks with attitude and a bottle of sparkling wine Social Sector – perfect for a relaxed winter time. A gift that informs, warms and supports the dropout program EXIT Germany supports. Order a we-don’t-give-each-other gift now.