„Value slaughter.” Baldur's Gate 3 publisher has no illusions: the engagement economy is big threat to game developers
According to Michael Douse, social media can have a disruptive effect on the gaming industry. „Advertising-propaganda machine” is, in his opinion, not a particularly good place to have substantive discussions about games and the industry itself.
Social media is driven by the mechanism of maximizing engagement, and its impact on the gaming industry can be destructive. This is the thesis presented by Michael Douse, Larian's publishing director, in a series of posts on X. His comments about the current video game industry appeared in response to the opinion of a streamer who stated that "gaming discourse and culture is the worst it’s ever been."
Emotions instead of substance
Douse drew attention to the functioning of social media (including the X platform itself), which, as he pointed out, promotes emotional engagement at the expense of balanced and more thoughtful discussions. "[Social media] is first and foremost an advertising-propaganda machine. Discourse has suffered as a result" - wrote the BG3 publisher.
Furthermore, Michael Douse pointed out that the crisis in the gaming industry, which, in his opinion, consists of a decrease in investment, uncertainty, and a lack of creative vision, combined with the mechanisms of social media operations based on the engagement economy, creates a "recipe for noise." Besides, in his opinion, this phenomenon poses a greater threat to developers and publishers than, for instance, decreasing attendance at industry events or narrowing of available advertising channels.
"It's very easy to blame people - individuals, groups, companies - for this state of affairs, but in reality, it's about brutal economics. Slaughter of values. How to achieve maximum effect with low investment? Just make people angry, and then sell them solutions. Engagement economy" - Douse explained.
Larian's publishing director also noted that homogeneous crowds (united by a specific opinion driven by emotions) are far more engaged than passive audiences, and because engagement boosts sales, the most engaging product promotion methods always prevail in a capitalist system. However, in his opinion, games stand in some opposition to this model, as they still rely on "cognitive engagement," while at the same time, they must function in the new reality of social media. According to Douse, this results in a specific conflict (which can be summarized by the previously mentioned words of the streamer).
In the end, he also emphasized that although he understands that people need to earn a living, he warned, citing ethics, that succumbing to this logic won't make them happier.
Industry in crisis?
The discussion about this topic is closely tied to reality - the gaming industry has long been dealing with mass layoffs and corporate decisions that mainly affect game developers and players. In their replies to Douse's posts and streamer Ellohime, users of the X platform highlighted that the industry's issues are mainly due to poor management, rather than - as some propose - the creative decisions of individual creators. An example could be the recent situation involving Marvel Rivals, an online shooter, where the developers from the American branch were fired despite the game's great success. The decision was made due to the company's reorganization.
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