What Happened To All The Money That Used To Fund Video Games?

Once upon a time, it seemed like a pitch deck and a dream could land a game developer cash from a deep-pocketed investor or a reliable publisher, and for a minute in 2020, games appeared to be a pretty safe bet as far as price-y years-long gambles go. Thanks to the pandemic, people were stuck inside, so they had more time than ever to play games—just as other entertainment mediums were flailing. Investors saw gold in them hills. Money poured into the industry. But now, with video games getting canceled and studios closing left and right, it’s only natural to wonder where all the money that once kept the industry reasonably stable went. Will it ever come back? Further, how much do investors really pay attention to video games at all, and to what extent are they able to influence major productions? What happens when they want to see a quick return on investment? Are they responsible for unpopular, money-grubbing decisions like the modern preponderance of live service games? Our guest this time is Mike Futter, director of ops and publishing at Causeway Studio, producer at Strange Scaffold, and host of the Virtual Economy podcast. He answered all our questions about how video game funding actually works—and the new models that might arise from an industry on the verge of collapse.