Recession-proof? Game Industry Giants THQ and EA Layoff Hundreds
Many, including myself, have touted the fact that games are a recession-proof industry.
Together, THQ and EA have posted hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and laid off over 750 people in the last two weeks.
Doesn't sound very recession-proof.
Meanwhile Zynga is still hiring like mad (check out their open jobs here).
I'm not surprised. I expect social games companies to do better than traditional games companies in the recession.
Here's why:
Traditional games - $30-80 upfront.
Social Games - $0 upfront.
If you don't have a job, which one is more appealing to you?
4 comments:
well, you're not mentioning Activision, which had a great quarter - and is probably as good as an indicator of where console gaming is as is EA. THQ has never really been an indicator of the sector.
Fair enough. Two companies does not an industry make. And I should have been clear that I wasn't looking just at console gaming, but PC as well. The point, if i had one, is that games companies ARE affected by economic conditions.
That title seems directly right at my industry bret...
J/k, but then again, EA was growing, IMO, more than it was wise to, and THQ has been relying too much in shovelware.
I wrote an essay on a very similar topic over at my blog. How do you think the economic downturn will affect ad-supported games? From what I can see, it looks like we'll feel the pinch and belts tightening but, on the whole, online advertising is going to weather this better than some other media will. Hopefully people spent some time this year diversifying their revenue bases to stave off downturns in one sector or another...
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