Destructoid Checkpoint - Gaming Keeps Reminding Us That It's A Business First

Try as I might, and believe me, I do try, I cannot escape the terrifying spectre of gaming’s reality. Ultimately, it is my desire to talk about gaming as art, to delve into psychology and philosophy, to get the “it’s just not that deep” crowd mad at me by pointing out that, well, it kind of is. I enjoy this newsletter as a vague excuse to bring up topics like Hauntology or Sartre, but I am constantly pulled back to the harsh reality of business.

This week is no different, so let’s dive in.

It’s not union-breaking, it’s union-bending

Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive are currently testing the old adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity. The Grand Theft Auto developer is in a spot of bother after firing staff who it claims were leaking important secrets, in breach of NDAs that had been signed as part of their employment. 

More than 30Rockstar employees in both the UK and Canada were fired with no warning on October 31. In many countries, this will directly contravene employment law, as a warning system is considered very important. Instant dismissal would be reserved for the most serious of circumstances. Take-Two Interactive claimed this was due to “gross misconduct,” later stating that the staff had been “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum.”

With GTA 6 on the way, it’s a huge deal for the developer. The bad news for them is that the fired individuals, many of the remaining personnel, and the Independent Workers of Great Britain union all claim that the staff were actually fired in a move that constitutes union-busting. 

The issues seem to stem from conversations that occurred in the trade union’s Discord, which IWGB president Alex Marshall has claimed is a protected space under UK law. A valid and important point, as an inability to talk openly means an inability to organize. 

This one will likely go to the courts because UK unions can be extremely good at that type of thing, and Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive have all the money in the world to fight whatever it is that they get sued for.

Ultimately, it seems like Discord records will reveal the truth, but whether we find out what they contain—or whether it is ultimately dropped, dismissed, or settled out of court—remains to be seen. 

Interestingly, news of the potential union-busting didn’t shake share prices much, if at all. A couple of days later, however, GTA 6 was delayed again, and they took a bit of a tumble. So, good to have yet further proof of the priorities of the average shareholder.

Life is hard for Ubisoft

Speaking of share prices, I would have said that Ubisoft’s couldn’t go much lower, but it’s clear they disagree. The company’s shares are currently worth a mere fraction of their 2018 highs, but the company still made the decision to suspend trading after it had to postpone the publication of its half-year earnings, potentially from worry that the delay would further hammer the stock price.. 

Said suspension will continue until said earnings are published to “limit unnecessary speculation.” This may mean that big news is on the way, and they don’t want anyone to get on or off the station without knowing the full story. 

What's really odd here is just how close to (or past) the wire this one got. Reportedly, people were waiting to join the conference call with CEO Yves Guillemot when the statement of the delay was issued. Now, this could mean a lot of things. It could be an acquisition, it could be a case of running out of road on outstanding loans, or maybe that a too-long run of trouble released and failed games has them in a very tough spot. Maybe a deal fell through that they planned on announcing, or maybe the company was playing chicken with someone else, and Ubisoft blinked first. 

It’s impossible to know, other than this is a pretty abnormal situation for a company that looked pretty bulletproof a couple of years ago. What the actual issue is remains to be seen. A money issue right now would feel like the kiss of death for Ubisoft, especially after a recent $1.25-billion deal with Tencent. 

The company has also recently had to offer voluntary redundancies at Massive Entertainment in Sweden, so in all, things are looking grim.

Krafton is shedding staff, heading toward AI

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic right now, and rightfully so. Everyone and their dog wants to be able to charge a premium for AI-produced garbage, and the race is on to evaporate large sections of the sea so that people can have a computer produce images of famous war crimes in the style of Studio Ghibli. 

Beyond hating this timeline, the most obvious tech bubble history spinning ever closer to bursting would be hilarious if not for the rancid fallout and human cost of such a thing occurring. While companies like Krafton are dropping humans, offering voluntary redundancies for anyone who wishes to take them, and betting it all on the AI future.

I don’t wish to go too deeply into my thoughts on AI, as I have managed to avoid using expletives in this newsletter to date, but I guess you could say I am not a fan. I like AI for certain purposes, like spellchecking and organizing my cats, but I mostly dislike it because I feel it both undermines human creativity and strips it of value. 

The only issue currently being solved by AI is the issue of having to pay people wages, but I also just plain don’t like the kind of people who say things like “but now everyone can create stuff.” You could always create stuff, but you just didn’t bother because you thought it was difficult. If the need to learn a skill is enough to stop you in your tracks, then perhaps you are just not a nascent Picasso or Van Gogh. 

My real concern is that the reason so many companies are engaging in the insane value-pumping being done around AI is that most of those companies are propped up by the people who never suffered the last time a market crashed. They will happily move from fake AI market speculation to whatever the next snake oil is, instead of being reduced to ruin, as would be right and proper.

It has sadly just become the way of things, but that certainly doesn’t mean we have to like it.