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Are there any genuinely good companies (other than indies) in the game industry at this point?

JB2448

JB2448

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Oct 25, 2017
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Seeing layoffs, copyright takedowns, misappropriated funds, CEO and C-suite golden parachutes, focus on short-term games at the expense of worker living quality and rights (on top of video game quality), and other wrongs running rampant throughout this industry, it begs the question:

Is there any company in the video game industry that is genuinely good?

Larian seems like it's run really well with the right mindset, but that's a single example in a flood of awfulness. There are certifications out there such as B Corp that are a good start, but there doesn't seem to be a single B Corp certified video game publisher (or even developer, though maybe I didn't look thoroughly enough) out there.

Do you have any ideas, Era?
 
Issen

Issen

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Nov 12, 2017
6,862
There were never any to begin with. No such thing as a good corporation.
 
SketchDog

SketchDog

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Nov 25, 2021
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The stuff you mentioned you can find in any industry. They aren't there to be good they're there to make money, basically.
 
Mesoian

Mesoian

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Oct 28, 2017
26,892
Like... Morally?

If you're looking for morally good companies you should ignore entertainment all together.
 
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OP
OP
JB2448

JB2448

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I see Larian and Remedy and I agree with those picks, but surely they can't be the only two.

That just seems dystopian.
 
goroadachi

goroadachi

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Dec 22, 2023
169
"Morally good company" is pretty oxymoronic, but Nintendo seems mostly alright aside from being way too overprotective of their IPs. Treats and pays employees well, high worker retention, consistently quality products.

Don't think there's much reason to dislike Larian ethier.
 
Vargas

Vargas

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Oct 27, 2017
509
No, the answer is no. Give it enough time and something problematic will pop up in a group.
 
julia crawford

julia crawford

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Oct 27, 2017
35,701
Don't make heroes of strangers! There are probably good companies because there are a very big number of them and most people are nice. But like everything else they will also have moments of weakness or be taken advantage of by superiors.
 
Mekanos

Mekanos

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Oct 17, 2018
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What good is a company that can't extract every ounce of labor and value from its workers
 
The Gold Hawk

The Gold Hawk

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Jan 30, 2019
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I reckon it's probably safer not to hold any company up as a bastion of goodness or purity. It might be pessimistic but it just feels like that is a surefire way to get disappointed later on.

It was only a few years ago where people were championing CDPR, Naughty Dog and even Rockstar as that.

Lot of shitty business stuff, toxic work environments and abuse in this industry.
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

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Sep 24, 2019
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Remedy seems like they've got their heads furthest away from their asses.
 

DimpleSan

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Jun 16, 2020
893
Don't ascribe morality to companies. A company exists to make money, generally, and a company is not a person. If a company is incredibly small and privately owned, the owner may have other goals besides growth and making the most money.

Any company that is publicly traded is a corporation and is obligated to make the most money it can, you cannot ascribe morality to this kind of organization. It is an entity which exists for the purpose of growing and making profit.
 
Greywaren

Greywaren

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Jul 16, 2019
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I don't think any company big enough can be "good". Some are better than others, but you don't get to be big by being good.
 
Derbel McDillet

Derbel McDillet

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Nov 23, 2022
15,963
I mean, everyone is gonna have a story and their own threshold. Like is every company that asks employees to work in office considered bad now? Bad management can effect some people not others.

My job is nice and friendly to me, but I regularly end up working nights and weekends due to always being at capacity. But they give us a lot of holidays, benefits and the pay is decent. So * shrug *. It's just a job. I'm not going to bat for their reputation.

It's all a bit more nuanced than you're actually asking for.

The answers you're gonna get are mostly based off online perception of a company they already like rather than anyone's lived experiences.
 
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JimD

JimD

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Aug 17, 2018
3,557
Nintendo has exploited contract workers before although they're improving lately. Sony and Microsoft have done layoffs while being exceptionally profitable. So no, I can't think of any corporate level game dev that's "good."
 
Akita One

Akita One

Member
Oct 30, 2017
4,634
JB2448 said:
Seeing layoffs, copyright takedowns, misappropriated funds, CEO and C-suite golden parachutes, focus on short-term games at the expense of worker living quality and rights (on top of video game quality), and other wrongs running rampant throughout this industry, it begs the question:

Is there any company in the video game industry that is genuinely good?

Larian seems like it's run really well with the right mindset, but that's a single example in a flood of awfulness. There are certifications out there such as B Corp that are a good start, but there doesn't seem to be a single B Corp certified video game publisher (or even developer, though maybe I didn't look thoroughly enough) out there.

Do you have any ideas, Era?
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This might be the most virtue signaling post of all time?!!?!?!?

"Hey only businesses called companies or corporations that do things I/we don't like...why can't they be like this business that totally is not a company or corporation...that people that frequently post on a videogaming message board of a few thousand people like?"

Do you understand how the word "Larian" totally exposes your argument? People...please go outside and stop basing things based on a few hundred people on Resetera because Resetera is so big and therefore important in the same way any message board in 2024 is important!
 
OP
OP
JB2448

JB2448

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Oct 25, 2017
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Akita One said:
This might be the most virtue signaling post of all time?!!?!?!?

"Hey only businesses called companies or corporations that do things I/we don't like...why can't they be like this business that totally is not a company or corporation...that people that frequently post on a videogaming message board of a few thousand people like?"

Do you understand how the word "Larian" totally exposes your argument? People...please go outside and stop basing things based on a few hundred people on Resetera because Resetera is so big and therefore important in the same way any message board in 2024 is important!
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Virtue signaling is a waste of time. I'm not trying to impress anyone. I'm just genuinely curious.

Also, Larian is over 470 people across 6 studios. Does that not count as a company?
larian.com

Careers - Larian Studios

Larian Studios is a game developer studio located in Gent, Belgium. Proud to be independent for 19 years, we create games for multiple genres and platforms. Thanks to our players, we get to spend our days making the games we love to play. We have a passion for role playing games.
larian.com larian.com
uspto.report

LARIAN STUDIOS - Arrakis NV Trademark Registration

Trademark registration by Arrakis NV for the trademark LARIAN STUDIOS.
uspto.report uspto.report
trademarks.justia.com

LARIAN STUDIOS Trademark of Arrakis NV - Registration Number 5024910 - Serial Number 86488907 :: Justia Trademarks

(Based on 44(e)) (Based on Use in Commerce) Computer game programs; video game software; (Based on 44(e)) Computer game software and video game software for use on wireless devices; downloadable electronic publications, namely, comic books, graphic novels, strategy guides and manuals for...
trademarks.justia.com trademarks.justia.com
 
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Homura

Homura

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Aug 20, 2019
6,156
Nintendo Japan seems good from what I've seen.
They pay their employees well, and even acknowledge gay couples despite Japan not doing it officially.
 
Walnut

Walnut

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Nov 2, 2017
893
Austin, TX
Valve maybe? Although I've heard some stories about how the flat management style has led to culture problems.

I don't think there really are any that fully qualify the OP's criteria
 
St. Eam the 3rd

St. Eam the 3rd

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Aug 18, 2022
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Nintendo is the only big one that has not touched its devs with layoffs in these last bloodbath's years, also I remember insanely good stats for those devs. iirc they moved away from third party testers and hired internal stuff.
Instead of rising prices they raised worker salaries of 10% on top of my head.
Also Larian!
No others come to mind but looking at the indie scene it's surely much much better
 
Otakunofuji

Otakunofuji

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,173
There's absolutely no way to know. Even cute cozy little wholesome indies have had problematic people outed over the years.

Putting any company, even beloved ones, on a pedestal is just going to lead to disappointment.
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,436
What does "good company" even mean?

Every single company ever has some jerks working for it if that's your bar
 
bixente

bixente

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Jan 27, 2019
2,279
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