Right now, lots of major and smaller game publishers and developers, along with members of the media, are in Los Angeles. While the E3 trade show is no longer a thing, they are still gathering to attend events like today"s Summer Game Fest, Microsoft"s Xbox Games Showcase, Ubisoft Forward, and more.
While these events are meant to hype up and celebrate what"s coming next in the video game industry, the fact is that it has also suffered from lots of layoffs and game studio closures at nearly every major publisher over the past year. So, in the middle of all this video game promotion in LA, the indie game publisher New Blood Interactive decided to inject some cold reality for those who will be in town.
The publisher, which has released games like Dusk, Gloomwood, Amid Evil, and others, decided to buy some time on a big electronic billboard on a hotel in downtown LA that shows a list of the big game development studios that have been shut down over the past year. Journalist Steven Totilo posted a video of the billboard "ad" on his X page.
“We love you. We miss you. We hate money.”
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 7, 2024
An electronic billboard from New Blood Interactive in downtown LA mourns the closure of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Roll7, Sony’s London Studio, Volition and more
“Gone but not forgotten” pic.twitter.com/1zCeD4KEEw
The billboard only runs for a few seconds, but it shows a "Gone But Not Forgotten" list of major studios that have been closed. They include Volition, which was closed by Embracer in 2023. It also lists two studios, Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, that were closed by Microsoft earlier in 2024, along with Sony"s London Studio. It also lists Roll7, which is part of Take-Two Interactive"s Private Division label. There"s tons of evidence that the remote worker-based studio has been shut down, although Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has denied that that happened.
The billboard states of the above studios, and all the others in the past year that have been affected by downsizing, "Thank you for great games from your friends at New Blood." It will be interesting to see if the many game showcase events that will be happening over the course of the next few days will make any mentions of the layoffs in the industry.