Claus Lykke, CEO of MovieStarPlanet shed a little light behind the layoff round.
As suspected it was indeed the financial situation leading up to this. And not just making the company a leaner and more profitable business in general. Though this is the consequence for the immediate future of the company now as they have to adjust for current reality.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/claus-ly ... er_desktop
**DISCLAIMER**
Don't take the graphs too seriously.. it is only google search traffic. Doesn't include what is happening on platforms like mobile and downloadables outside of that. But also don't underestimate it either.. I generally think it's a pretty good indicator if something has legs in the real world.
MSP had some REALLY good years from from 2010 to 2020. After which things really started to falter in global interest for the chat /dressup (with a bit of game mechanics) universe. BlockStarPlanet was given a bit of life but never reached MSP in popularity.
https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... b0lf&hl=en
Things like Roblox (yes pretty terrible company) and indirectly the likes of TikTok (Chinese operated.. no don't install it) has been a crushing force. And anything going up against humongous entities will be in trouble. (Even still Roblox is not a profitable company.. so something have to give there.. perhaps Fortnite will take the throne back at some point as they change to a UGC platform?! Let's see!)
Honestly I don't really think there will ever be a large future for MSP (The old golden days has come and gone). MSP2 should probably not have been a repeat of what wasn't working any longer. But rather a completely new take on something fresh. But that is only a world of speculation. The Flash based platform of MSP was certainly not going to last for very long as Adobe killed off Flash. And MSP only lived on as a Downloadable/mobile app.
We can only hope the future will align better for MSP!
If the cost cutting is enough.. and it probably is?! For a while at least, It might not be impossible to cater to a niche audience.
And still all the best and good luck to all the people affected by the layoffs! <3
Cheers to new adventures!
A look at other local online platforms like Kogama and Crey in comparison with MSP2 also tells a foreboding tale.
So that's a bit worrying there as well!
Crey doesn't look very healthy from the latest 2021 numbers I can observe.. so not the most positive outlook there. And once their investor money has been burnt on the long runway.. I'm not really sure it will fly on it's own accord.
Multiverse (Kogama) is holding on with the minimal crew for now.
https://trends.google.com/trends/explor ... gama&hl=en
(Fixed MSP2 was entered as a search term and not as Video Game.. they have a small spike no shown previously. Not that it changes anything big)
All companies are certainly facing future challenges!
Crossing my fingers and hoping the best for all!
But sadly Mr. Reality is knocking his evil paws on the door.. good things needs to happen to curb the trend for all of them. I hope they have a plan!
One thing could be to 'if you can't beat them, join them' and create their own brands and universes inside the existing major platforms like Roblox and now maybe Fortnite.
Might work! Might not! These big brands with a scaled down crew might be able to pull it off. Or at least small experiments could be made in this regard fairly cheaply, to see if this was a way to explore or not in the face of stiff competition.
But that's just an idea! No guarantees!
Cheers! And best of luck to all you out there!
And yeah.. sorry for the doom and gloom.. but that is just reality as I see it. :_(
And yes I hope I am wrong!
**Adding to ending on a positive note here on the MSP layoffs is STARTUPS!! Mass layoff is usually a really good breeding ground for fertilizing people's dreams and ambitions. And just getting that little nudge into doing that startup idea they always dreamed of. It can be a really great spark to get it all kickstarted. I've heard a little something is already cooking in one place. But let's see where it lands.
Remember when Microsoft closed PressPlay.. we got two incredibly successful companies in return.
Let's hope for a repeat!
And just letting you know.. yours truly is having the time of his life here his own startup at Bitfire Games.. though this one was not born out of a sudden necessity in the same way. But rather of a life long dream and a little boredom.