Actor Ben Starr has once again spoken out against the widespread layoffs hitting the games industry after the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, his "favorite game of this year," was disbanded.
Ben Starr's bellowing voice is making its way into more and more games after his lead role as Final Fantasy 16's Clive, his upcoming and mysterious role in turn-based JRPG love letter Clair Obscur, and a spoilerific boss role in Hades 2. But while his own star is on the rise, he's not been quiet about the poor job security affecting game developers.
Last year, the actor criticized the game industry's nasty habit of laying off literally thousands of developers annually while many companies were still bragging about record profits. The problem has only worsened for the folks who make games in 2024. Countless publishers, from Microsoft and PlayStation to Embracer and Take-Two, have either laid off hundreds of workers or shut down entire development studios - sometimes they do both at the same time!
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In an interview with GamesRadar+, Ben Starr doubles down on his stance. "I think we're continuing," he says. "We're continuing to see more and more and more people laid off, because there is an industry that is not an industry in decline, but it certainly there seems to be a lot of companies that are having to make hard decisions, and they are losing great, great people from this industry, and there's a bit of a brain drain."
"I really, really hope that we can find a way of rectifying it. And I think it's really, really sad, because I love these games," he continues, pointing to his personal GOTY Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and how Ubisoft recently disbanded its development team. "I just hope people stay in the industry. That's what I hope. I hope that we can find some good from what is happening, that people find new homes, that new creativity is born out of it."
"It is not a good situation to be in, but right now, I hope in that adversity, we find fertile ground to create new things. Because, certainly, a lot of people are suffering right now. And I really, really hope that there is a safety net for people creatively to come and make really cool stuff, whether it's in the AAA space, whether it's in the AA space, whether it's in the indie space." Here here.
In the meantime, see our upcoming games of 2024 and beyond list to find out what’s on the horizon.
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