Written by Raven Smith
Photo by Raven Smith
This past year, we’ve seen many big name companies expanding into the gaming industry. From Facebook’s acquisition of the Occulus Rift to Amazon buying up Double Helix game studios and hiring game designers, it seems that many companies see their futures in the game design industry. This is a good thing for game designers: more money and resources usually means higher quality games and a more secure future in an industry that’s constantly changing.
Lionsgate—the media mogul behind the “Hunger Games” movies and TV’s “Mad Men”—just hired co-founder of Nerdist Industries Peter Levin to carry the company in a new direction. Lionsgate is branching out from film-based media and is now looking to produce video games and “other interactive ventures,” according to a press release from Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer.
Games are a fast growing, multi-billion dollar industry. With Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto V” making over $1 billion in the first three days of its release, it’s no wonder companies are eager to get in on the action. With Lionsgate being the newest contender in the industry, will they try and eliminate their competitors “Hunger Games” style, or will they get killed off in the opening round by their new competition?
This move follows Amazon’s acquisition of game designers Kim Swift and Clint Hocking earlier this month. Kim Swift is a designer who worked on the hugely successful “Portal,” and Clint Hocking is known for his work as a creative director on “Far Cry 2.” Both are skilled and seasoned veterans in the industry and are bringing their experience to Amazon’s start-up game division.
According to the Amazon Jobs webpage, they want to hire more than 64 senior artists and designers to help build up the core of their new company. The online retail tycoon recently acquired the California based Double Helix Games gaming studio, and many expect great things from Amazon because of this move. The company also recently released Amazon Fire, a streaming box that works similarly to Netflix but has the dual function of also being able to play Android App games. Amazon is not afraid to make bold moves to expand their products and appeal to a wider market.
Facebook took a similar approach by buying the Occulus Rift for $2 billion. They now own the product many gamers see as the future of VR gaming. The company also made a move into mobile and web gaming by creating “Facebook Games,” a publisher for smaller indie based games.
With huge companies putting their resources and manpower into developing games and consoles, we can expect great things in the future. The gaming industry has always been fairly unstable—just look at the several hundred employees Irrational Games and Disney Interactive laid off earlier this year.
These companies opening their doors to game production helps stabilize an industry that is constantly in a state of flux. The release of the Xbox One and PS4 have secured the future for console-based gaming for the next few years. However, the higher specs and graphics those systems have require large teams of people and time to make successful quality products. If big companies decide to support and not rush their teams, we may see many great games released in the near future.
