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CAN'T FIND SOMETHING? |
Business in Vancouver January 6-12, 2009; issue 1002 Year-end a mixed bag for video game cluster After a year of growth, video game developers of all shapes and sizes cut costs and staff in December Curt Cherewayko Some bright spots remain in the video game industry, but year-end job cuts at Electronic Arts and more recently at smaller video game development shops are revealing that the video game industry may not be recession proof. B.C.’s largest video game developer, Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:ERTS), announced in December that it is reducing its worldwide headcount by 10% or roughly 1,000 workers. Before Christmas, a number of Vancouver’s smaller video game developers followed suit, with reductions that trimmed some company payrolls by only a few workers and others by up to a dozen. Hothead Games Inc. laid off four employees before Christmas, leaving it with a workforce of 32. While the company continues to develop two titles, it was forced to cut jobs after failing to find a publisher or co-developer for its third title, Swarm! Joel DeYoung, Hothead’s COO, said developers and publishers have shown interest in the game but are hesitant to commit to or finance new projects in a volatile market. “As a small company, we’re still interested in growing and still interested in doing Swarm! and having three active projects,” said DeYoung. “It’s just that we recognized we are going to achieve that growth through partnerships.” DeYoung noted that there has been debate as to whether video games and other entertainment industries have remained sheltered from the recession. “I think there is definitely some truth to that, but it is interesting how this overall kind of malaise really has an effect on everybody,” said DeYoung. Most video game companies rely on private or public equity and on the distribution channels and marketing power of a few large publishers to get their games to market. “The industry has kind of stratified, and these larger publishers are all cutting, they’re all tightening their belts,” said Susannah Skerl, a part-time producer with Hothead who is looking for full-time work. Layoffs in the video game industry at this time of year are commonplace and follow the year-end rush when game developers scramble to meet their Christmas shipping deadlines. But if things don’t pick up in February, as they typically do, Skerl is planning to organize a number of networking events for out-of-work video game developers, programmers and artists. To unemployed video game developers, Skerl suggests networking as much as possible at the many events hosted by Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH, Women in Games International and other video game community groups. “There are all kinds of people out there who are resources,” she said. “Our industry is really caring, but you have to get out of the house and go look.” Jared Shaw, lead recruiter at 31337Recruiters.com estimated that there are up to 400 unemployed video game artists in Vancouver right now. He said it’s particularly difficult for grads with no experience and for developers with just a few credits on their resumé to find work. “That said, if you’re a senior character artist or especially a senior environment artist, you’re in the situation of being able to pick where you want to work,” he said. He noted that the video game market has been superheated for some time, with some studios churning out new games of inferior quality. “It’s like a flashlight is being shone in the dark corners,” he said. “You knew it was there, but now you really see it for what it is.” He noted that Rockstar Vancouver, Blue Castle Games and United Front Games are companies that, with strong fundamentals, have maintained growth and continue to hire. Blue Castle grew its workforce by more than 100 in 2008 and has roughly 15 positions currently available. This month, it is announcing its third major title, an action game, which the company has been developing in stealth during the past year. Shaw said that a factor in Blue Castle’s continued growth is that it is one of the few video game developers in the city that is not dependent on a single or few publishers. “They have not put all they’re eggs in one basket,” said Shaw. • cgc@biv.com |
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