‘An avoidable f**k-up’: Larian director criticizes state of gaming industry, mass layoffs

In an April 5 interview with Game File, Larian’s director of publishing, Michael Douse, expressed his opinions on the recent string of layoffs that have affected the gaming industry.

In the interview, Douse said that the notion that layoffs are inevitable is simply not true. He also said that as more companies lay off employees, other companies will feel more confident in doing the same. 

Douse referred to layoffs as a “very, very complex and nuanced decision,” adding that “the idea that it’s an inevitability that has to happen, It’s just not true.” He went on to say that “they are an avoidable f*ck up. That’s really all they are,” adding, “That’s why you see one after the other. Because companies are going: ‘Well, finally. Now we can, too. We’ve wanted to do it for ages. Everyone else is. So why don’t we?’ That’s really kind of sick.'”

Douse also added that there are no direct economic dangers leading to these decisions. “None of these companies are at risk of going bankrupt. They’re just at risk of pissing off the shareholders. And that’s fine. That’s how they work. The function of a public company is to create growth for its shareholders… It’s not to make a happy climate for the employees.”

Douse was asked if Larian Studios would ever go public, and he responded by saying while it may give the developer more revenue, “it wouldn’t make our games better. It would just make us rushed”. He also attributed Baldur’s Gate 3‘s success to its slow and methodical development process and to the fact that, as a smaller company, Larian is more “nimble.” 

“We just took it day by day.” Douse said, “As an operation, we created reserves. We scoped up based on what we thought we would need and created reserves and fallbacks, just in case we would have to. Luckily, we don’t have to. We’re just nimble. Being nimble is key. Big companies are not nimble.”

The gaming industry has seen significant layoffs over the past year. Microsoft made 1,900 employees redundant in January, Sony announced that it was letting go of about 900 employees in February, and Ubisoft laid off 45 employees just this month alone, making it the publisher’s second round of job cuts.

Meanwhile, Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 has seen lots of success over the past year. Not only was it a critical and commercial success, with a 96 Metacritic score and over ten million units sold, but it notably also won the 2023 Game of the Year Award—no layoffs necessary.