Yeah, took me a moment there to work out which swat…
Is he new to the internet? Do your worst? He was fucking lucky.
Oh no. The term “IRL streamer” isn’t going to stick, is it?
In other news:
[quote]What does this actually mean?
Don’t panic. It’s good things. Gamer Network have been providing the adverts on RPS for the past seven years, and have been an increasingly helpful partner in recent years. Becoming a part of the same network as Eurogamer, ModDB, GamesIndustry.biz and VG247 means that we’ll benefit from the company’s larger resources. This includes the opportunity to do exciting things like hire new people, branch out into new areas such as video, and to modernise the site’s appearance and tech. In an increasingly fierce world, RPS now has big boys to hang with in the playground. That’s going to help us out. We’ll be able to do more, and do it better.
It does mean that Jim and Kieron (remember them?) have exited the RPS treehouse for the final time to continue spending their lives grappling with videogame robots and comic book superheroes. Otherwise, everything will remain the same. John and Alec aren’t going anywhere and will continue as writers for the site exactly as before, as will Adam, Alice, Brendan, Graham and Pip. We have the exact same separation between editorial and advertising as before. We still do only what Horace’s commandments allow.[/quote]
Now that’s the real quote:
[quote]An official statement from John Walker:
“There comes a point in everyone’s career when they must abandon all their principles and beliefs, and sell out to The Man. It was simply our time. I want to assure readers that while RPS will be irreparably damaged by this sale, and that everything they love and hold dear about the site is lost, my mortgage has been significantly reduced.” [/quote]
Gaming journalist Scott Steinberg has successfully built his brand and now does business stuff too. Here’s an interview with him at Computerworld: Why should online etiquette matter.
I never knew Steinberg very well but he, along with Mark Saltzman, appear to have done well branching out from games into general consumer or business tech coverage and sometimes also into different media like radio or TV. I’m usually impressed with people that are able to do that because I figured other outlets didn’t take gaming press seriously (and sometimes with good reason). The closest I got was when a fellow freelancer helped me get a few articles into general computing magazines. But my deepest respects are for guys like Bruce Geryk and Desslock, who literally do doctoring and lawyering in their free time when they’re not gaming :)
I know. “Boo-hoo, YouTubers! Get a job!” But this is less about YouTubers complaining about their cushy gaming video lifestyles hitting a roadblock, and more about how YouTube determines what is and isn’t offensive.
[quote]
Across YouTube, ads have stopped appearing on some videos with “vulgar language,” “disasters and tragedies,” sexually suggestive content or “subjects related to war.” That’s because, after the Wall Street Journal reported on ads appearing on racist videos, advertisers like AT&T pulled YouTube ads en masse. To get them back, in March, YouTube introduced “brand safety controls.” Advertisers could choose to avoid “higher risk content,” like anything referencing marijuana. Channels as big as PewDiePie and H3H3Productions say they’ve been making way less money in comparison to their earnings from earlier this year. (YouTubers can appeal demonetization.)
When asked about whether ad-friendly filters can tell the difference between real and video game violence, a YouTube representative referred me to a blog about how YouTube’s having more positive conversations with advertisers.
To make money again, YouTube suggests making more advertiser-friendly content.[/quote]
Here,a YouTuber made two videos. One in which he talked about his milk expiring and one covering Call of Duty: WWII. The milk video obviously got less views, but made more money.
Yeah, youtube is broken now. They better get this figured out quick. Lets’ Players are leaving to Twitch in droves now.
Is there any reason to think Twitch will be better long term?
Naivety.
Not really, but that is years down the line.
Though, Twitch streamers don’t make money through ad revenue like Youtube, They make some from ads, but mostly they make money from subscriptions to their channel, and donations. Which can’t be taken away by advertisers.
Ah, but as individuals become more concerned with their personal brands in the 21st century, they’ll be reluctant to donate to streams that show terrifying videogame violence. Check and mate for the Let’s Play community.
Guess this doesn’t count as journalism since I haven’t seen a story about it, but even though I’m no journalist it’s certainly news: seeing around the web that PopCap Seattle has laid off nearly half its staff and is down to under 100 headcount. I always hate to hear about bad stuff happening to these folks because I’ve gotten so much out of their games - if you added up time spent on Plants v Zombies on all the various platforms I own, no doubt it would be the game I’ve spent the most total time with. Hope things turn around, and I don’t know that @slantz still hangs out around here, but hope you made it through.
Ugh. The progression from acquisition by EA to the demise of the studio seems to vary only in time, not outcome.
Bioware, guess you’re next.
Aw, you made me think of Pandemic and now I has a sad.
Their demise came in a different form. With the doctors gone, zombie Bioware lurches onward with tired faces.
Hey guys. I was indeed affected by the layoffs. (If anyone’s looking for a games Producer or Project Manager with a technical bent in the Seattle area, hit me up.) I’m still there on a special arrangement for a bit to wrap up some work, but I’ll be moving on soon enough.
If anyone cares about my 2 cents, I don’t think EA is to blame for the studio’s trajectory. My take is that things ebb and flow, and PopCap’s circumstance to shine was in a very different market than exists today. I’m not going to detail my complaints here, but I think PopCap failed to transition to the new studio it needed to be given the shift in the market. I’ve been at the studio longer than all but two folks still there, and I’d been close to the studio since its very beginning through personal relationships, so this is a well-informed opinion. I hope this change helps them finally finish their necessary transformation.
Also, this may surprise folks, but I’m a huge fan of EA proper. I have tremendous respect for the people I worked with at EA across all disciplines. They were very smart, and often very cool, people who cared about doing a good job. That’s my honest opinion. Ironically it’s not something I could really say (and be taken at face value) while employed. But now that my time there is at an end, I feel compelled to come come clean. EA is a great company full of great people, and I appreciate the time I had there.
Also, I won’t go into details, but I saw studio leaders silently doing backflips over the years to protect as many folks as possible during it’s long and slow demise. They care about the employees, most of whom don’t know what efforts were made to protect them. No business wants to lay people off in this way. It sucks, and it’s a sign your business unit is failing. This is a reality they could no longer avoid. It sucks that it affected me and others, but I appreciate my 10+ years there and wish those remaining at PopCap the best of luck finding their footing for future success.
Sorry to hear the news, slantz - especially since you had worked there that long. Here’s to a new good gig at some other place.
Hate to hear it, dude, but decent of you to take the long view. I hope things come together quickly for you.