„They're Horrible Greedy People.” Dwarf Fortress Dev Expresses His Dislike for Those Responsible for Mass Industry Layoffs
Even a dwarf lover like the developer of Dwarf Fortress thinks that those responsible for the layoffs are „horrible ” and „greedy people”.
For months we have been receiving many reports of layoffs in the gaming industry, much to the concern of developers and players. Some devs tried to indicate the reasons for this disastrous situation. However, one of the devs of Dwarf Fortress stated directly that the wave of layoffs was the result of the actions of "greedy people."
After the success of his game on Steam, Tarn Adams can no longer be called a "small developer." However, it seems that the sudden surge of cash didn't transform him into a businessman, based on his remarks at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) that commenced on Monday, March 18th. He outright stated that those responsible for the layoffs "are horrible and greedy people" (via PCGamer).
Adams posed a rhetorical question about whether he would show more empathy towards those responsible for layoffs at publishers and developers if he had to make difficult decisions about the future of his studio (Kitfox). He also quickly responded in blunt terms, emphasizing that "they're horrible and bad people."
The dev also added that he considers these decisions to be "impractical" and something that looks like the result of investing in "venture capital" and the desire to improve financial results.
These decisions, they don't sound practical. They sound like they're driven by greedy, greedy people trying to make some kind of venture capital thing work out.
'There is this stench of rot at the top of things where the reasons people get laid off is because of funding structures and bad incentives and stupidity,' said Adams, condemning executives for firing people, 'that they shouldn't fire because their company will fall apart, but I guess maybe that helps someone's bottom line somewhere or gets the right air inside the right golden parachute.'
Adams' words are unlikely to be repeated without reservations by many developers, but he isn't the first to express criticism of publishers and studios. Some workers in the industry talked about companies overstating their hirings, acquisitions, and the volume of projects in a market where almost nothing ensures commercial success.
Nonetheless, there's something ironic about the fact that the "greed" of people in high positions is criticized by the creator of a game about dwarves. If a fan of short, bearded people who love gold and treasures says that someone has gone overboard with greed, it gives a good reason to pause and think.
