Star Trek Online is an aging MMO that still receives regular updates and generates regular income thanks to a built-in fanbase. Obviously, it's not wildly profitable but Cryptic, the studio running it, has been getting by. They're based in California, so their salaries are high by world standards.
Earlier this year, a firm named "Embracer Group" bought up a whole bunch of studios, including Cryptic. Their approach was to create a new studio headquartered in Berlin that uses remote workers living in cheaper areas of the globe. They're having Cryptic train their replacements at the new company before they are, in turn, laid off.
Long story short, the business types believe that software developers are a fungible commodity and see no difference between a home-working Mumbai developer and someone living in Silicon valley, except for what they must be paid.
Only time will tell if this view will result in bigger profits or the death of everything firms like Embracer Group touch.
That the automotive industry, consumer electronics industry, computer hardware industry, and (arguably) chip fabrication industry are largely centered outside of the US despite having been pioneered within the US should already tell you what's likely to happen. Talent is talent, where ever it may be.
Earlier this year, a firm named "Embracer Group" bought up a whole bunch of studios, including Cryptic. Their approach was to create a new studio headquartered in Berlin that uses remote workers living in cheaper areas of the globe. They're having Cryptic train their replacements at the new company before they are, in turn, laid off.
Long story short, the business types believe that software developers are a fungible commodity and see no difference between a home-working Mumbai developer and someone living in Silicon valley, except for what they must be paid.
Only time will tell if this view will result in bigger profits or the death of everything firms like Embracer Group touch.