Jobling fears "decimation" of UK developer scene
Eutechnyx business development director sees economic threat for publisher studios
Darren Jobling, business development director at Eutechnyx, has told GamesIndustry.biz that he is concerned for the future of the development community in the UK, and the economic threat to publisher-owned studios.
Speaking in an interview published today, Jobling drew a parallel to the series of acquisitions and subsequent closures to hit the country in the last decade, and worries that publishers could be forced to cut studios to drive down costs.
"I think we'll see more consolidation between publishers and developers, and more mergers," he said. "I also think we'll see a lot more closures in terms of publisher-owned studios. Some publishers see remote development studios as a drain on their resources and when it comes to cost-cutting, they're usually first in the firing line.
"My worry, though, is that we're going to see the decimation of the British game development community. Just as the British game publishing industry was hit by a bunch of buyouts and closures in the 1990s, the late 2000s may see the publisher-owned development community being hit every bit as hard."
The full interview with Darren Jobling is available now.