BioWare Layoffs: Devastating Historic Event

✊ "This is such bad news, such a devastating historic event all I can say is that it’s utter bullshit. Anyone who participated in this travesty should be ashamed. Actually, maybe all of the people who participated — the folks in suits (real or virtual) should lose their damn jobs. I ask them to ponder this: What do you contribute to gaming? What price do you pay for failure? I’d love to see THEM on the unemployment line instead of the people who do real work. Why is it always the do-ers and makers who pay the price? Someone explain that to me!"

We gotta stop pretending this is all evil suits who live to kill games with their spreadsheets. Bioware hasn't had a successful game in a decade. Anthem was a flop and Dragon Age was eyerolled off the Internet. Meanwhile, Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the most commercially and critically successful games of all time, but it was made by Larian. The brain drain started when the founders left in 2012, then Casey Husdon was out in 2014, then back in 2017, then out again in 2020. Multiple rounds of layoffs. Its just not the studio that birthed all those franchises anymore. The IP will be back. They will rehire some of the OGs to do it. But it will be a new studio and probably should be. You can see the rude awakening for a lot of people who came up in AAA that the money and patience aren't infinite and you can't ask for these massive budgets and years to make a game and then ship stuff your audience doesn't want. I get why people are emotional - it sucks to see people lose their jobs and to lose a legendary studio - but its really just harsh reality, which comes for all of us.

Warren Spector wrote exactly what’s been going through my mind. Why is it that the creators who do the actual work are always the ones who get fired first? When it’s the poor decisions of the powers that be that make those companies untenable. As usual capital is considered more valuable than labor, when it’s labor that creates the value. It’s true in a lot of industries, but especially true in games. The companies in Japan seem to understand how important their creators are. The companies here could learn something from them. My friend, Matt Forbeck, wrote this in another post. "For those of you who don't know the details, Bioware is part of EA, which was purchased this summer and taken private in a leveraged buyout by Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law) and Saudi Arabia. This is them stripping the company for parts. In a better economy with anyone else investing in video game companies, they might try to sell Bioware. Instead, it's cheaper just to shut it down, people and legendary games be damned."

Mr. Spector is one of my game-industry heroes. And he’s right. And those who closed Bioware’s doors are completely wrong. When all the great studios are dead or gutted, what product will these publishers even have to release?! The game industry cannot live on live-service and remakes alone. We need to protect game makers - especially legendary ones like Bioware (and Warren). KOTOR, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Jade Empire: You have the company behind that in your portfolio and you send ‘em all home with cardboard boxes? SMH…

Absolutely gutted by the news about Bioware. Not only a cornerstone of our industry, but one of the biggest Canadian studios in our history.

BrewDog had its highest ever market share the month I stood down. You would not know that from the headlines. A huge amount has been written about BrewDog and about me over the last few years. Some of it was fair. A lot of it was not. I have stayed quiet for a long time. But the facts matter - to me, to our former team and to the 200,000+ Equity Punks who backed us. So here are 5 things the headlines got wrong. BrewDog was never perfect. Nor was I. I made plenty of mistakes and I own them. We went from 2 humans and a dog to the world's 13th most valuable beer brand. But with BrewDog so many important facts get lost in the noise. Swipe through and judge for yourself.

𝐈𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐳𝐫𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐝, 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡. For years, the word at the front of how I described my work was "storytelling". Last month I took it off everything a prospect reads. Founders and CEOs heard it and pictured slide decks and a content calendar. Every word arrived. What I meant didn't. That was my mad dog. I could have gone hunting for a cleverer word. I went back to what I actually meant and wrote that down first: founders are tired of correcting what everyone else thought they meant. The words came after. What's your mad dog?

𝐈𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐲'𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦, 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐉𝐨𝐲𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐳𝐫𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐝, 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐠, 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡. For years, the word at the front of how I described my work was "storytelling". Last month I took it off everything a prospect reads. Founders and CEOs heard it and pictured slide decks and a content calendar. Every word arrived. What I meant didn't. That was my mad dog. I could have gone hunting for a cleverer word. I went back to what I actually meant and wrote that down first: founders are tired of correcting what everyone else thought they meant. The words came after. What's your mad dog?

“We tried this in 2019.” If that line sounds familiar, your most competent — and most dangerous — staff may be standing in the way of progress. New blog: evidence-based strategies to convert grumpiness into personal investment and real ownership of your zoo’s vision. Read more: https://wix.to/720zhhH #ZooManagement #LeadershipDevelopment #OrganizationalChange #StaffEngagement #Conservation

This series from the Equitable Food Initiative was created, designed and filmed by farmworkers themselves. It follows a married couple who both work in quality control on a strawberry farm in Mexico. After many years in agriculture, I’ve seen firsthand the day-to-day life of farmworkers and the challenges they face, which differ from region to region. What crews deal with here in Salinas is not the same as in Yuma or El Centro, and many of them follow the harvest between those valleys every season. In the border regions, the day starts long before the field. Many workers who live across the border get in line to cross as early as 2 or 3 in the morning, after finishing work the day before at 4 or 6 in the evening. That leaves only a few hours of rest before doing it all over again. Most of us never see that part of the job. And it’s often a family effort, with husbands and wives, parents and kids, and uncles and nieces at times all on the same crew or harvesting companies. Next time you pick up a clamshell of strawberries or a bag of salad, take a moment to think about the hands that harvested it. Worth the watch. #Farmworkers #Agriculture #SalinasValley #FoodSafety #Yuma #ElCentro #Huron #EquitableFoodInitiative