Phil Spencer, Executive Vice President of Gaming at Microsoft, has been discussing how COVID-19 will impact the gaming industry in the future. He believes that the worst is yet to come, earmarking early 2021 as when we will really begin to see the effect the pandemic has had on the gaming industry.
During a discussion with Business Insider, Phil Spencer has been talking about the impact of COVID-19 on the gaming industry in the future. He believes the result of lockdown measures and self-quarantining will be most-felt early 2021. Why? He has proposed that this is due to two main reasons.
Motion Capture is one area that has felt the impact of COVID-19 heavily…
Nowadays, Motion Capture is a common feature in any game. It isn’t just used to create cutscenes, either. Mocap helps animators create gameplay movements, facial expressions, and brings realism to gaming experiences. Basically, it’s an important part of game development.
In his discussion, Spencer highlighted the fact that this important Motion Capture work simply can’t be done at the moment.
“Mocap is just something that’s basically stopped. We’re not going into mocap studios.”
Phil Spencer, talking to Business Insider
It may be possible to continue animation work in the current climate if developers have enough raw data, so to speak. Fine-tuning animations and texture touch-ups aren’t impossible to do at home, but any kind of Motion Capture is nearly impossible. The technological demand Mocap requires means it’s almost impossible to try and do at home.
Facing a similar issue, a lot of the audio work that goes into games has also been put on hold. As the game industry develops further, so does the quality of audio that accompanies the gameplay. Many titles have orchestral soundtracks similar to Hollywood blockbusters. Under current restrictions, work to record this is also suffering the impact of COVID-19.
Spencer is feeling pretty good about 2020’s releases, though.
Any game that has already completed it’s Mocap and audio work should be fine, according to Spencer. He is confident that developers can react to the current climate and still deliver their titles to the pre-stated release windows. For games beyond that, though? Who knows.
Spencer has said that developers will “be able to react” to the set-back they will face due to the impact of COVID-19, but what does this mean for people working on those titles?
You may remember the backlash Rockstar Games faced in 2018 when it was revealed that staff members were working “100-hour weeks” prior to Red Dead Redemption 2’s release. Although statements have been released stating that this is only referring to a small writing team over a three-week period… The issues it raised then (and that could arguably be raised now) are still important. Where does it all end?
The worst part of this all is how preventable it could be. Gamers seem to want their cake and eat it.
There is always a hunger for more information and for games as soon as possible, yet there is huge backlash when titles are released with bugs and when developers “crunch” to complete a game. Naughty Dog has repeatedly pushed back the release of The Last of Us 2, to fan dismay. Then they have had to face leaks so close to the release date.
This toxicity, I fear, will only get worse in light of Phil Spencer’s discussion. He has also stated that regular-release sports titles such as FIFA and Madden could also see a disruption. Star Wars Episode 1: Racer has already been hit with a delay, so close to release. Fun fact: The Phantom Menace was the first feature-length film to include one of the main characters through motion capture. Who knew Jar Jar Binks would be at the forefront of such an exciting technology…
Despite the possible setbacks in 2021, both Sony and Microsoft have confidence that the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 will be releasing as planned. For more on the latest gaming news, reviews, features, and more… Check out Gamezo.co.uk and @GamezoGG on Twitter.
