Not to draw an undue parallel between the national economic crisis and the local gaming industry but haven’t we learned anything about the rabid dogs of capitalism during the Bush years of unbridled deregulation? Just as folks go transferring their funds from banks to safer investments like their mattresses, Austin gets a double dose of corporate behemoths snatching local office space and businesses.
First comes the news that local indie stalwart Gamecock Media (see our cover story “Betting the Farm” for some prescient journalism on that game publisher, if I do say so myself) is acquired by SouthPeak Games. There is a proper press release that tells you everything on the record. Mike Wilson of Gamecock said that it was merely a matter of trading their anonymous backers (tossed off by the bucking stock market no doubt) in Washington, D.C., for bigger backers in Virginia. What this means for their ability to put out cool but decidedly unsexy titles like Mushroom Men in the future? We’ll have to wait and see.
Next comes news that EA (the gaming corporation that is the mythical embodiment of all the things that are wrong with the industry) is opening another, albeit small, studio here in Austin. Setting up camp in the offices of BioWare (another arm of the EA conglomerate) Pogo has an initial staff of 12 and are looking for more. If you have no soul or just like having food on the table, the job offerings are here, here, and here. Baby steps toward monopolistic oblivion?
Blogging has a way of calming me. As I finish, this news doesn’t seem terribly insidious, but the coincidence is at least a bit eerie.
This article appears in October 10 • 2008.
