Game news “The video game industry is ruined” A new studio is closing its doors…
The year 2024 is not kind to the video game industry. The layoffs continue and just a few days after the closure of “Deviation Games”, it is the turn of another organization to leave us…
In the wake of mass layoffs by large companies, small studios are not spared. This time, it’s unfortunately Eggnut who pays the price! Due to lack of funding, the team behind the narrative thriller sequel Tails Noir is forced to stop the development of its next title, which has been in production for 2 years. Its closure was announced on X on March 6, 2024. The remaining funds will be donated to the 15 employees forced to leave the studio, to help them bounce back. Nevertheless, the team will continue to monitor Tails Noir games and is ready to intervene if technical problems arise.
As of today, Eggnut is shutting down operations, that sucks… Unfortunately, due to ongoing complications on the funding side, we are unable to continue development of our new game that we have been working on for 2 years. (…) The remaining budget will be given to our team of 15 professionals. Eggnut will continue to support both released Black Tails games.
A story of déjà vu
This situation is not trivial… Lately, many studios have been forced to close their doors or clean up their teams. Currently, there is a real human crisis affecting video game companies.. We even hear that “the world is on fire” and that “the industry is ruined”. A state that can be seen by looking at the affected organizations: Riot Games (League of Legends), Activision Blizzard (Overwatch), Microsoft, PlayStation, Netmarble… Although we are only in March, there have already been more than 6,000 forced departures! The dismissed workers report that it is increasingly complicated for them to fully invest in an industry where building a future is “impossible”.
Covid 19: Beneficial or harmful?
The current crisis is linked to the 2020 pandemic. Containment was a crucial period for the growth of the video game industry. It brought a historic development in France, since its market recorded an increase of 11.3%, reaching 5.3 billion euros! After a successful year, production studios have decided to hire massively and focus their attention on new technologies. Regrettably, this gain of confidence, without return on investment, has “forced” companies to leave employees behind. When it comes to independent studios, it has always been difficult to find a place without financing. This is why they often call for donations, so that the community can participate in the development of their game.. This was recently the case for Aether Studio, the team behind Rival of Aether 2. The Kickstarter worked as 16,408 backers pledged $1,076,198. However, Eggnut did not have this opportunity, forcing them to make a difficult decision…