TML, the market is still doing VERY well, regardless of who is profiting.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/...me-sales_N.htm
Its the industry's responsibility to stay relevant in a changing market, and sales were up BIG even in a down market last year.
People are still out there buying games, and the one's that don't sell fail and those who develop those games will suffer. IMO, even if this game was released in a hot economy the sales would have been lackluster at best. It never got any industry buzz and and the consumer base honestly never cared about this game even in development. Thats not necessarily all the devloper's fault, but the publishing side never really ot behind the product and there was no grassroots support.
To me it doesn't matter who makes the games (large or small company), it matters that there is still a market for them so there is no reason to blame the market for a a game that failed.
Not only that, but development teams are blown up like this all the time in the videogame world, even in good economies. The industry tends to be task oriented.
They made a game, it didn't sell, and they lost their jobs. There is no reason to find some convoluted explanation. Its simple math.