The story behind a head-turning billboard mourning game studio shutdowns

“Originally we wanted to do all the studios. And you can't fit them on a billboard.”

A somber billboard is running in a prime spot in downtown Los Angeles during this week’s extended stretch of games industry events. It pays tribute to Arkane Austin, Volition, PlayStation’s London Studio and other studios shut down during a lengthy run of gaming layoffs in the past year. 

That ad, which went viral on social media on Thursday after I tweeted about it, was initially going to be much more aggressive in tone.

That’s according to Dave Oshry, the CEO of scrappy game publisher that paid five-figures to run the looping ad, and who I tracked down in LA for a chat. 

Initial brainstorming among Oshry’s peers at New Blood Interactive involved some provocative ideas, he said.

“People started suggesting,: ‘You should take shots at the execs. Put a picture of Phil Spencer up there and be like, ‘Hey man, what the fuck?’”