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Citing Iwata, From’s Miyazaki Says He Will Allow No Layoffs As Long As He Is President of From

Hudo

Gold Member
- Joins a company as a tester with zero political power or relevance
- Starts being involved in design more and more as the time goes out of sheer passion for the task.
- Suddenly takes control of a failing project no one believed in and turns it in a success story.
- Starts shitting out one hit after the other turning a niche studio in a major player in the industry
- Gets promoted head of the studio while keeping full creative control on his projects.
- Apparently he also starts creating a very stable work enviornment in a studio that was once known for underpaying and overworking people.
The dopest thing is he already graduated and worked for a bank before playing ICO and deciding that he wanted to make a game.
 
yep. never understood the point of 'chasing realism' when your product is fundamentally as unrealistic (as in, being able to return from the dead repeatedly in order to continue playing) as any other...

It's because western companies don't understand value. You can make a simpler, great looking game without pursuing hyper-realism and it will cost you much less. Part of the problem is because a lot of people are wowed by graphics so it sells games, and companies want to cash in. But at this point I doubt the amount you'd spend on visuals will garner enough addition customers to offset the costs.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
From has it's problems, but man do I love them and Miyazaki.

YEP! It's just a different way of viewing and acting on Capitalism. Us stupid Americans think it has to be dollars over people in every instance. Yet that's just not true and Iwata and Miyazaki display that Capitalism doesn't have to treated like pieces of dog poo.
 

hussar16

Member

I guess this is why companies like From and Nintendo are able to be so successful without having to chase industry trends, while almost everyone else is imploding
'imploding'doesnt matter when the execs pockets are full
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
It's because western companies don't understand value. You can make a simpler, great looking game without pursuing hyper-realism and it will cost you much less. Part of the problem is because a lot of people are wowed by graphics so it sells games, and companies want to cash in. But at this point I doubt the amount you'd spend on visuals will garner enough addition customers to offset the costs.
TBH, Nintendo and From games are way more beautiful the most realistic game out there due to pure art style, and they don't age that fast, like the novelty getting old as soon as a new gen starts, so even less I understand why the pursue for realism since graphics can look amazing without it anyway... Not saying realism is bad per se, but if everything tries to be realistic we have a big industry-wide scalability issue.
 

MrRenegade

Banned
The dopest thing is he already graduated and worked for a bank before playing ICO and deciding that he wanted to make a game.

- Joins a company as a tester with zero political power or relevance
- Starts being involved in design more and more as the time goes out of sheer passion for the task.
- Suddenly takes control of a failing project no one believed in and turns it in a success story.
- Starts shitting out one hit after the other turning a niche studio in a major player in the industry
- Gets promoted head of the studio while keeping full creative control on his projects.
- Apparently he also starts creating a very stable work enviornment in a studio that was once known for underpaying and overworking people.
True stories all around :D. People believe these fairy tales about x or y person. Ooooh look how kind he is. If you haven't worked with the individual just stfu, you don't know shit and don't start sucking someone's dick just because he is a somebody.

I'm not belittling his achievements, or criticising him in any way. Just please, we've seen enough "god tier" people turn out to be literal devils. And then all the groupies suddenly disappear or don't understand. Keep the distance, you already honored him and his work by buying his games, you don't have to be on all fours and wait for a treat.
 
Difference between American game companies and Japanese game companies is that Japanese companies doesn't do hiring frenzy like what American companies does. They also rarely go through constant acquirements from another company like what American companies do and constant restructuring (which they use it as another excuse to layoff people).
 

Killer8

Member
Isn't Western game development without peer when it comes to jobs, profits, and game quality?

Western game development is a revolving door of burnout. A basic bitch coding job will net you double the pay with half the stress. It's well known for being dogshit and it's a miracle many games are even shipped.

Keiji Inafune complained 14 years ago that Japanese industry workers had too much job security (lol) and that it was stifling creativity. Since then it's only been getting better for the Japanese worker with Capcom, Bandai Namco and Koei Tecmo raising wages. Nintendo has a new employee retention rate of 98.8% which is above the 70% national average.

Meanwhile when a Japanese studio is purchased by a Western company:

 

Hudo

Gold Member
True stories all around :D. People believe these fairy tales about x or y person. Ooooh look how kind he is. If you haven't worked with the individual just stfu, you don't know shit and don't start sucking someone's dick just because he is a somebody.

I'm not belittling his achievements, or criticising him in any way. Just please, we've seen enough "god tier" people turn out to be literal devils. And then all the groupies suddenly disappear or don't understand. Keep the distance, you already honored him and his work by buying his games, you don't have to be on all fours and wait for a treat.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Western game development is a revolving door of burnout. A basic bitch coding job will net you double the pay with half the stress. It's well known for being dogshit and it's a miracle many games are even shipped.

Keiji Inafune complained 14 years ago that Japanese industry workers had too much job security (lol) and that it was stifling creativity. Since then it's only been getting better for the Japanese worker with Capcom, Bandai Namco and Koei Tecmo raising wages. Nintendo has a new employee retention rate of 98.8% which is above the 70% national average.

Meanwhile when a Japanese studio is purchased by a Western company:



Yeah because Tango Gameworks was lighting the charts on fire with...checks notes...The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2. I'm sure they'd be thriving after all the revenue generated by...checks notes...Hi Fi Rush and Ghostwire Tokyo.

Where did the billions and billions of dollars go?!

Nah, Nintendo is in Japan
Nintendo is the 8th largest videogame company according to 2023 revenue.
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
Yeah because Tango Gameworks was lighting the charts on fire with...checks notes...The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2. I'm sure they'd be thriving after all the revenue generated by...checks notes...Hi Fi Rush and Ghostwire Tokyo.

Where did the billions and billions of dollars go?!


Nintendo is the 8th largest videogame company according to 2023 revenue.
You said profits tho
 

Ozzie666

Member
I think we can all agree whatever model the west is using, is just borked. Greed, roi, share holders, management structure. Maybe the west lacks passion for games and their staff.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Your post was that because ER sold 25mil copies they could afford not to cut.

My point was hugely profitable Corpos will cut anyways. So FROM is a rare find.
From is rare, they also will use there25million copies wisely compared to greedy corporate company
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
i mean the japanese working hours is atrocious and wages are not that high, furthermore layoff in japan is a nono?
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I think people should stop to consider that a lot of the layoffs may be companies purging undesirable and/or unnecessary employees.
Even if this is true, that's on Western studios for hiring unnecessary people. Realistically any sort of management should be kept as little as possible and all resources should be invested into getting as many employees in the studio as possible which seems to be what Nintendo and From do
 

tusharngf

Member
He basically milked the metroidvania formula in 3d format and made some of the greatest games of all time. Bloodborne original dark souls and now elden ring. He has exceptional talent no doubt.
 
Even if this is true, that's on Western studios for hiring unnecessary people. Realistically any sort of management should be kept as little as possible and all resources should be invested into getting as many employees in the studio as possible which seems to be what Nintendo and From do

The West was making AAA games while Japan was making games that looked like two generations ago.

I'm not saying which is better, but no one would have let Western studios get away with that.
 

ZehDon

Member
With the amount of sucess they're having, combined with a healthy numbers of Staff AND using the same (their own) engine since 2009, layoffs thankfully don't seems likely at From anyways.
Sony posted record profits then fired around 900 people. EA paid its executives $60m after laying off about 5% of their entire workforce and celebrating their successes. Microsoft spent $70b on a new publisher, declared it needed smaller games, and then closed three studios for making smaller games. In this industry, success doesn't mean shit. FROM's approach is, sadly, worth acknowledging in this climate.
 

Sentenza

Member
True stories all around :D. People believe these fairy tales about x or y person. Ooooh look how kind he is. If you haven't worked with the individual just stfu, you don't know shit and don't start sucking someone's dick just because he is a somebody.

I'm not belittling his achievements, or criticising him in any way. Just please, we've seen enough "god tier" people turn out to be literal devils. And then all the groupies suddenly disappear or don't understand. Keep the distance, you already honored him and his work by buying his games, you don't have to be on all fours and wait for a treat.
Fuck off, bitter wanker.

I'm 45 and I've seen everything and its opposite. I don't need a raging tryhard to teach me the "harsh realities of life".

i wasn't writing a fucking fanfiction nor making assumption about his morality. I literally reported a summary of everything that has been publicly said so far about the man's career.
If you double check, you'll notice the remarkable absence of any judgment about his personality or character.
For all I care he could be the little tyrant behind the closed doors of From Software.

AndI wouldn't give a shit, either. Factual results talk louder than feelings.
So the next time try to describe "on all fours" your mum or your sister.
 
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Hudo

Gold Member
he's right though
Because I find this particular thing about a guy dope doesn't mean I want to suck that dude's cock or that I worship him.

The converse is true as well: If I dislike one thing about a guy, that doesn't mean I've got to hate him. You people need to learn that opinions and perspectives can and often do have nuance.
 
When you recycle your games nonstop, it's easier to say that.

Do something else, and you will be talking about layoffs.
Because western developers do "something else"? They all iterate on a known formula. Difference is From Software / Nintendo do it better because their main aim is not earn billions (for execs, not to developers obviously) in the short term by doing so.
 
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Fabieter

Member
Yeah because Tango Gameworks was lighting the charts on fire with...checks notes...The Evil Within and The Evil Within 2. I'm sure they'd be thriving after all the revenue generated by...checks notes...Hi Fi Rush and Ghostwire Tokyo.

Where did the billions and billions of dollars go?!


Nintendo is the 8th largest videogame company according to 2023 revenue.

And Nintendo is the most profitable. You do like gaas alot why would you go after revenue instead of profit.
 

Hip Hop Comment GIF
 
Because I find this particular thing about a guy dope doesn't mean I want to suck that dude's cock or that I worship him.

The converse is true as well: If I dislike one thing about a guy, that doesn't mean I've got to hate him. You people need to learn that opinions and perspectives can and often do have nuance.
Well it is 2024 and only black & white thinking exists, it's baffling. Everything positive is dick-riding, everything negative is hate. Can't win.
 
Good luck with that.

Forays into game genres require an ebb and flow of staff. It’s nobody’s fault, it’s simply a market reality.

Opting to layoff staff to appease shareholders and keep your stock dividend: now that’s something you can willingly avoid.
 
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