Loading Screen: Games Press Union Efforts, Indie Dev Closures and Xbox Fan Anger
Today the team behind the biggest games site in the world are seeking union protections, the layoffs continue, with two indie studio closures and Xbox's Fans are having a bad week.
![Loading Screen: Games Press Union Efforts, Indie Dev Closures and Xbox Fan Anger](/content/images/size/w960/2024/02/Xbox-Fans.jpg)
The team behind the biggest games site in the world are seeking union protections, the layoffs continue, with two indie studio closures and Xbox's Fans are having a bad week.
Biggest Gaming Press Site to Unionise - The IGN Union
As layoffs and financial pressures strike across the games press - IGN's staff have taken a proactive step.
Over 80 staff across the company have announced the formation of the IGN Creators Guild - a CWA backed union effort that has already signed more than 85% of eligible staff at the company.
IGN is one of the largest games media (and general entertainment sites) in the world, from it's creation in 1996 till today - and for the last few years has had a particularly strong presence in the gaming news sphere as a result of new leadership and staff hires.
This move is designed to give staff a level of control and influence over their workplace, asking for (among other things) fair and competitive pay, affordable health insurance, protections for minority staff and protections against layoffs and the use of generative AI.
All of this is important because if the biggest games press site in the world can have these protections, then smaller sites will have a model to work from - one that will help protect all workers and ensure that there is more to the games press than just being a mouthpiece for press releases.
If you'd like to sign the petition that asks their Corporate Owner Ziff Davis to voluntarily recognise the union, the link is below:
![](https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/492/982/normal/IGN_Guild_TW_Banner.png)
LayoffWatch 2024 - The Slaughter of the Indies
The layoffs do not stop - and the first week of February is no exception. With thanks to Game Industry Layoffs for keeping track.
The current total for 2024 stands at just under 6000.
Threaks
German Indie Dev and support studio - specialising in porting and smaller indie titles of their own.
25 Staff laid off including the CTO as the company shuts down.
Crop Circle Games
As first reported by Game Developer - Crop Circle games have seen cuts in their writing, design and engineering teams for an unannounced project
Unknown number of staff laid off
Visual Concepts Austin
Another Game Developer report - 2K games have laid off "a group of very talented developers" from the team behind Lego 2K Drive and NBA 2k
Unknown number of staff laid off - but this follows a wave of layoffs at the group in September 2023
Cloud Imperium Games
Reports of layoffs at Cloud Imperium Games (Star Citizen) via Linkedin posts
At least one individual
91Act
As first reported in Gamelook, 91Act, developer of the well received BlazBlue Entropy Effect have announced they have laid off all staff
The game released on 31st of January out of Early Access - but per the reporting, it generated "lower than expected revenue".
The founder is the only staff member remaining, and allegedly mortgaged his home to pay severance to staff.
Threshold
Another Game Developer report, Threshold was founded in 2019, the company was preparing to reveal it's first game in March.
Studio was an 11 person team.
The Xbox Influencer Exodus
The rumours of what Xbox are planning to do around exclusives have whipped up waves of hysteria, with the worst possible potential consequences being taken as explicit fact by many of the companies biggest super fans
For those who haven't been following along at home, since the Xbox One launch the Xbox Marketing Arm has been pointed directly towards the creation of a Fandom - built around their brand and designed to encourage people to pledge their loyalty to the brand, not to simply use the brand's product.
![](https://news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/Hero-46ff21e0779c992ce76b.jpg)
This is summed up well in a scathing section of Kotaku.au's James Wood's write up on the recent layoffs from Xbox.
It’s the ideation endgame of the console wars, a term I felt physical pain just typing. The us and them, the blue and the green (nobody seems to mind what the red does), the Xbox Community and the rest. This divide is one of the oldest tricks in the playbook, but Xbox has infused it with contemporary internet language and cosy vibes; “How do you do, fellow children?” in a kitten sweater and RGB headset. It ceaselessly pumps out gimmick hardware, ranging from controllers to minifridges to toasters. It uses free marketing arms like the Xbox MVPs to push them, reassuring everyone involved that not only is Xbox in on the joke, but so are you. Its social media presence is awash with cutesy community affirmations and gamer-first hashtags.
![](https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Untitled-design-29.jpg?quality=75)
A lot of people really did think that the company/brand Xbox wasn't just their friend, but something they should be pledging their life to, and that's been something Xbox have been quick to capitalise on.
Now that the rumour mill is spinning off it's axis and Xbox is being seen to betray these people.
We seriously need to address how people have become extremely parasocial towards brands / celebs / influencers. pic.twitter.com/RV38mKVBGA
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 5, 2024
Sixty Seven Thousand people tuned in to listen to Xbox Superfan Timdog go through the rumours and claims in a 7 Hour Long Twitter Space entitled:
![](https://bellular.games/content/images/2024/02/image-8.png)
On gaming forum Resetera, Xbox Influencer Klobrille (who has been shouted out by Phil Spencer on Xbox Podcasts previously) announced they'd be leaving that platform and eventually retiring their platform.
![](https://bellular.games/content/images/2024/02/image-9.png)
Which is seemingly par for the course, with another superfan PeterOvo posting and then deleting the following image detailing just how many of these "community leaders" are leaving.
![](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1095363790117281823/1204795861322694708/image.png?ex=65d60895&is=65c39395&hm=b3a77176f0bb447925401d63b9559d62f5219b50e77bad07e5b3b021c49366c5&)
We've been pretty clear in our expectations from the original video - it's Xbox taking a realistic look at the idea of the console competition, acknowledging they can't win with their current plan and finding a new path.
There's a valid feeling of dissatisfaction to be presented in the actual rumours that some games might not be exclusive. But that's not what these folks are furious about.
That core principle behind the rumours has been extrapolated into the end of all Xbox Hardware, the destruction of the Xbox ecosystem and comparisons to the likes of Mixer or the Windows phone - based purely on the speculation of superfans like the ones above.
Here's the thing - Fandom is a weird concept.
Most of the well regarded models for understanding it hedge on a theory of capital - both acquiring it and expending it.
Fans acquire capital by showing they're bought into the Fandom - this is buying merch or having all seasons of a show in physical media. The more capital you have, the bigger fan you are, or so the logic goes.
But there's another angle to it - creating capital.
This is why Fan artists, writers, musicians and other creators are seen as figureheads, they represent people who contribute to the fandom. They have their own capital to offer both the fandom and the brand - so they must be valued equally by both, right?
These are our Superfans above.
For them, the idea that Xbox is taking a direction that they don't like is effectively saying that their contributions don't matter. Which is what's leading to the emotional reactions presented above, as the influencers Xbox sought to weaponize realise that they aren't equal partners in that relationship.