Baldur's Gate 3 publisher thinks developers should become pirates to clean up BioWare's act

Recent layoffs at BioWare, the developers of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, have sparked a much-needed conversation about the current state of the gaming industry. Larian Studios' publishing director, Michael Daus, has once again taken to social media to address this issue, emphasizing the importance of valuing employees and holding leadership accountable.

Daus argues that the widespread layoffs between or after project completion are avoidable. He stresses the critical role of retaining institutional knowledge within development teams for the success of future projects. While acknowledging the financial pressures that often lead companies to justify layoffs as "trimming the fat" (reducing redundancies), he questions the necessity of such aggressive efficiency measures in large corporations. He points out that this approach only works consistently if a company is constantly releasing successful titles; otherwise, layoffs are a drastic, and ultimately ineffective, cost-cutting measure.

Daus contends that the core problem lies in the strategic decisions made by upper management, yet it's always the lower-level employees who bear the brunt of the consequences. He uses the analogy of a pirate ship, where the captain would be the first to be thrown overboard in times of crisis, suggesting that the gaming industry should adopt a similar approach to accountability. In essence, he advocates for a leadership structure that prioritizes its employees and takes responsibility for its strategic failures.