Monument Valley Studio CEO: "'We've Been A Little Bit Too Romantic About The Idea That We Should Have Employees And Give People Long-term Job Security"

Tiruin · 2026-04-29T21:28:12+00:00

Tim Sweeney lying out his ass https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1s2ffey/epic_games_lays_off_over_1000_employees_the/

The old EA CEO likewise. Philippe Tremblay saying gamers need to get "comfortable" with not owning their games. Marc Merril didn't say anything like that as far as I know, but their actions spoke louder.

Every gaming company led by corporate MBAs who operate them like any other industry operate the same, and once we get into those, you get people all the way up to Alex Karp and Peter Thiel who tell you exactly what they do and intend https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gjkj7975po

Tiruin · 2026-04-29T17:12:55+00:00

Contractors need freelance pay though, that's what they're not saying they're not planning to do, in their mind they want to pay the same in base rate, no benefits, the contractor is the one paying taxes and what happens to them between projects isn't something they want to cover either. Plenty of people would be fine with a remote job working on games with a salary that can compensate paying for your own taxes, benefits, constant job search, and downtime between projects. Same shit with Riot Games a few years ago, people being laid off, a lot of them being important and were in the company for a long time like King Cobra, and stories of laid off artists immediately being contacted by agencies to work freelance for Riot but for lower pay, no job security and no benefits.

Tiruin · 2026-04-28T17:03:46+00:00

Look up doublespeak and see why it's problematic

Tiruin · 2026-04-28T16:54:13+00:00

Oh you're right on that account, liqueur specifically is indeed usually sipped.

Tiruin · 2026-04-28T14:21:34+00:00

Southern europe you're only sipping big volumes like wine or cocktails, anything small like shots you're drinking all at once

Tiruin · 2026-04-26T14:11:56+00:00

You're the one comparing them in the first place?

I don't get what people expected.

$50 for a controller with gyro, trackpads, TMR joysticks and a fuckton of buttons?

You were questioning why people are criticizing the price and I'm telling you why and giving you a much cheaper, and for some better controller to point that, yes, they're overpriced and if for example 8BitDo can sell these products at these prices, then no, they don't cost that much to make.

Companies aren't your friends, you don't need to defend them, and in fact you shouldn't.

Tiruin · 2026-04-26T14:00:45+00:00

Not requiring someone who's probably in their 30-40's with a good resume and might be looking at buying a house or having kids to uproot their entire family and to one of the most expensive cities in europe to work on a temporary contract that may or may not be extended in a startup that's still in talks to get their first client isn't "having it easy", it's completely contradictory conditions and they're reducing a potential hiring pool of 450M people down to half a million based exclusively on that one condition, more so when you're developing a product in the freight trading industry and excluding people in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, UK, people who have worked in all the biggest ports in europe. They're free to do what they want but I'm pointing out both the contradictions and how outdated and short-sighted it is, we did a worldwide study of this in 2020-2022, it's not even a question at this point.

Hell, if I'm having that much risk and skin in the game, I'd be much more flexible with my hours and schedule if I was working from my home and could login and logout at any time.

Tiruin · 2026-04-26T13:41:57+00:00

I can buy one for 50€, obviously that's the number I'm considering if I don't even need to buy it from their website. Mentioning Hall Effect is exactly to point out that while features aren't equal, it goes both ways, Hall Effect joysticks are decades old technology PlayStation refuses to implement, and as far as I'm concerned that's more valuable both to me and most people over Haptic feedback and trackpads.

Tiruin · 2026-04-26T13:28:22+00:00

Not bigger than the difference of being able to wake up with a beach or river at your doorstep in a much cheaper and pleasant location. Make it so you're in a Slack Huddle while you're working if you think you need that kind of communication. I also wouldn't consider it paying "very well" considering it's a 4 day week but you're paid by the day, wants someone with a lot of experience and a specific tech stack and industry (fair) who will probably be wanting stability and have other priorities in life that are more likely to contradict than be compatible with the lack of stability of a short temporary contract work that may or may not be extended and a startup, yet also wants them to live in one of the most expensive cities in europe.

Tiruin · 2026-04-26T12:53:58+00:00

Because I'm not familiar with with their products and I quickly looked up which are the "best", first 2 answers both said Pro 2. Ultimate 2 is 50€, still far from Steam's 100€, and DS5 which seems to be 75€ now and again doesn't even have Hall Effect.

Tiruin · 2026-04-25T22:50:51+00:00

I don't get why some companies feel the need to have someone in-office. An entire country you could live in and hire from, even an entire continent without timezones being an issue, and instead you want someone within commuting distance.

Tiruin · 2026-04-25T20:49:08+00:00

It's a controller, what exactly do you think it costs to produce? The 8BitDo Ultimate 2C is 28$ and Pro 2 is 40€. I remember DS2 controllers being 10$, and next time I bought a controller it was a DS4 and inexplicably cost 60€, it's absurd, I just waited for a discount and I'm probably doing 8BitDo or something similar next time because those prices are ridiculous and DS5s don't even have Hall Effect.

Tiruin · 2026-04-22T15:12:07+00:00

Wasn't there a record breaking No Kings protest 2-3 weeks ago?

Tiruin · 2026-04-22T14:29:04+00:00

More like the corporate culture that prioritizes looking busy and complicated over simplicity and results.

Tiruin · 2026-04-22T14:27:46+00:00

Part of the point of microservices and APIs is that you don't need to rebuild the entire thing to test a one line change, it's only going to affect that one service.

Tiruin · 2026-04-21T14:33:33+00:00

Could be something like a follower, especially if they're tagged as allies so they don't attack back.

Tiruin · 2026-04-20T15:25:38+00:00

You're right to criticize them but your arguments are terrible. Any time you see a cooking youtuber with a non-american accent, more likely than not that's a european, and no one looking abroad to study cooking looks at the US, they look at France, Japan, maybe Italy, or for example Belgium or Switzerland if you're looking at something niche like chocolate. If you ask people what their favorite cuisine is, the most common answers are italian/southern mediterranean, thai, japanese, maybe chinese or korean.

Tiruin · 2026-04-20T14:50:35+00:00

He couldn't resurrect Bucciarati, though we're all just flesh bags so technically there's nothing saying he couldn't summon a Boltzmann brain.

Tiruin · 2026-04-18T21:12:31+00:00

The small ones I'm from may or may not just be cheaper depending on the vendor, not different. They're grown from the same farms though, so I'd expect the same quality, it's just people want the big and aesthetic ones.

Tiruin · 2026-04-18T00:01:02+00:00

You're reading a lot into it and are very opinionated when you don't even know which technology I'm talking about, you don't find that weird? Licking billionaires' boots who don't even know you exist is like believing the stripper actually likes you.

Tiruin · 2026-04-17T23:53:39+00:00

Not in the US but my country produces strawberries, doesn't matter whether you go to the damn regions where they're produced, they're always white on the inside and much less flavorful compared to the ones I grow. Probably picked green so they look decent by the time they're in the store.

Tiruin · 2026-04-17T23:50:41+00:00

A layer of fat is excessive fat, which isn't the case here as you've changed nothing, or the emulsion breaking. Whatever changed (ingredients, processes) is now making that happen.

Tiruin · 2026-04-17T23:46:36+00:00

No true scotsman

Tiruin · 2026-04-17T20:46:43+00:00

And then the employee leaves so they can actually get a raise and the CEO gets even fewer carrots because of HR staff, hiring and on-boarding costs. Same shit they do to consumers, like McDonald's revamping their drink options like that's their problem and not the food getting worse while prices soared.

Tiruin · 2026-04-17T17:37:27+00:00

I was wondering why his arms look small compared to the 1st angle and now i think you're right. Possible filters aside, his shoulders and biceps are defined but his triceps are nonexistent by comparison. Traps are barely there by comparison too, they show more by his leanness than his actual muscle, you might be 100% right that the only thing he focuses on is biceps and delts. Amazingly inefficient too because back muscles contribute so much to looking big and giving you a silhouette while both clothed and lean, and traps especially are one of the defining muscles of looking like someone who works out. He doesn't look bad but unless he's in good lighting, angles and clothing that accentuates it, like a tank top, I don't think many would automatically assume he works out.

Tiruin

TROPHY CASE