Yes, this is in relation to the closing of Tango Gameworks and Arcane Austin. Is there some immediate monetary benefit behind it that I have no idea about? Is it so they can keep the IPs and not have to deal with the developers? Are the Studios too expensive for anyone to buy? I honestly don’t understand how these executives play Capitalism.
Buying a competing business and then shutting it down is what all big tech companies do. They don’t actually want to run that business, but they also don’t want anyone else to run it.
Also IP rights. They buy the studio (or the publisher, with the studio beneath it) and then they own everything they make. So they can do what they want with that IP, which is typically nothing but prevent others from doing anything with it.
“Capitalism breeds innovation”
It can. But it’s not guaranteed.
The benefit: you no longer have to pay staff or rent for that studio. Take the IP’s, what else of value is there really? The rest is just a burden.
Most of them are not bought to ensure their future or as an investment. They are bought to take the IP and eliminate a competitor or threat.
It’s sad, but that’s the problem with big companies with huge wallets. They’ll push people out of a job and won’t loose any sleep over it either.
At least that is what I think.
might be tax write-offs, like what’s going on in hollywood right now.
Welcome to investor-stage capitalism where nothing is worth anything other than to the brief returns for the investor. If the investor has not made marginal profit it is time to kill, kill, kill, regardless of the product; be that a studio, a game, a food, a medicine, a house. Better burn it to the ground than risk any marginal loss. (Ignore of course the lack of product, content, value, etc that would actually entice someone to buy—the only reason a company should exist is to give money to investors—no product should come before that!)
There are no buyers for studios that had their IP stripped already.
