So I was reading this morning about one of the reasons Pandemic was closed was due to SoCal's cost of living/development and that got me thinking-- why are there still so many game development studios in California?

The only two reasons I can come up with are that they are already there and there are already so many people there.  Other than that though, I can't come up with anything.

Just think about it, salaries in Texas are probably about $20-30k a year less than a California salary.  If you have a studio of about 80 people, that's somewhere along the lines of saving $2million a year.  In a standard 2 year game, that's 25% of the development costs right there.

You just have to wonder in times like these when things are so expensive and troubling that studios hold so tight to their guns and don't move to any of the much cheaper places where states offer tax incentives, costs of living are so much cheaper, real estate is dirt cheap, and there's still a community of developers nearby.

Yeah, it costs a lot of uproot a studio, you lose people and it costs money, but just thinking how much you would be guaranteed to save is amazing.

That's a good point. Sadly I can't think of any logical reason for it.

News flash there are a few game studios in Austin, Texas where I live!

Never said there weren't, in fact, there are more than a few.

I'm just wondering why the main gathering of studios is in California.

Im glad... San Diego has alot dont have to move anywhere

speaking of which any idea on how money it takes get a company up?

Does California subsidise entertainment industries?
Taxes?
Greater pool of talent due to the education sector being more based around entertainment?

Why do we all grow our food in Europe/America when costs of living are so much lower in Asia/Africa? Usually, it's down to subsidisation, tariffs, etc. I'd imagine that the entertainment industry is quite important to the Californian economy - and as such, they'd be willing to offer tax breaks / subsidies to firms within that industry to encourage them to stay.

There's a lot of synergy between videogame production and TV/film production. Need voice talent? CG movies? Motion capture? I'm sure there are plenty of firms in California offering those services.

All good I knew you probably already knew but I wanted to give shout out to Austin (even though I think a few companies closed up shop here during the economic downturn).  I am pretty sure Origin is still here.  I think having a new city or state take control of having the most video game companies based there would be awesome.  I was thinking about maybe Las Vegas or Phoenix.  Just gotta make sure area doesn't have too many natural disasters so they aren't threatened by natural forces!