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More and more studios are having financial problems nowadays. It's honestly really sad when such creative forces and passionate people can't do what they're best at. The world isn't a better place without these people's jobs or influence on these intensely creative projects. I am one of the few people that find business reports, NPD Group data, and tons of other boring bean counter type-stuff actually interesting. Because of that I always make it a point to look into the financial and legal news that comes out of the videogame industry.
To be quite frank, the problems that Curt Schilling, 38 Studios, EA, and the State of Rhode Island have run into are awfully tragic but ultimately avoidable. I won't go into the mistakes that were made, because if you have been paying attention to the industry news over the last months you probably know what has happened. But one detail that I will talk about is that a lot of money and resources were poured into developing a very expensive MMO that didn't see fruition. My guess is that 38 Studios was expecting to make back all of the money that they borrowed through the MMO. We all know that Curt Schilling and 38 Studios wanted to make a MMO, but why take on such a rocky market for your first or second project?
Even though it was a dream of sorts, another reason for making a giant, beautiful MMO is the tons of money. It seems like whenever a publisher, developer, investors, or pretty much anybody else hears about making a MMO the mental image of a large beeping truck backing up and dumping a metric-ton of cash on their front lawn always pops up. But sadly the "I wanna be a millionaire too!" knee-jerk reaction has created an unmitigated pile of failed MMO's that just can't stand up to the 550-pound Gorilla known as World of Warcraft.
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I almost hate to say it, but at this point in time you can't beat World of Warcraft. I don't know exactly what, but nearly ten million active subscribers say a lot. As we all know ten million of anything talking at the same time is hard to understand, but if I could pick anything out of the roar of the crowd it's that we all can't be millionaires. I get it. We all want to be rich. It's the American dream. But in the capitalist society that most of you reading this are living in, it's kind of impossible. In order for the system to work some of us (and by that I mean a large amount of us) can't be extremely successful. This logic also works for products. There can't be too many big companies occupying the same space hocking either the same stuff or similar products and expect to all win. There has to be a top dog, as well as a legion of other people or companies in the other classes. It's just how the system works.
So here's my question: Why do so many game companies want to be billionaires? Before you bring the hate, here me out. I understand the point of business is to make as much money as you can until you can't anymore, thus you should never settle for pennies when you could be making dollars. But what if you are in the position where you can't or won't have the financial portfolio of Activision? What if you are safer staying in your current market then buying into some plan that bankrupts you? With all of the million dollar projects vying for your attention, which one isn't going to get your attention? Which developer is going to be a failure because there were too many products occupying the same space? This is a very easy problem to see during the holiday season where there are tons of products being released within a three month timespan. Even now with the barrage of indie games coming out in the summer months there is a large sense of congestion within the downloadable space and industry at large.
As with most aspects of life, it's about living within your means. I believe it's a common misconception that most online communities can find no wrong in Indie developers. True, what they create can be rendered as more heartfelt or sincere than a triple-A release, but because of their limited budget they can make smaller, more controlled experiences. That also means fewer deadlines and an increased importance on what really matters - gameplay. I think that bigger developers and particularly publishers could learn a lot from their leaner counterparts.
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Just look at what Nintendo has done this generation. Originally they got a lot of hate for not making the leap to HD, and while that did cause a few problems (namely ports from other consoles) it also forced them to focus on what they were best at. Instead of focusing time and energy on graphics solutions and texture work they focused on gameplay. Through one means or another we got great first-party games, two Mario Galaxies, two Zelda titles, Smash Bros., Punch-Out, Metroid Prime 3, Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, hell, even Wii Sports for crying out loud, and tons of virtual console games as well as porting Gamecube classics. Nintendo has made some of the best games of this generation, sold the most consoles, and it is rightfully so that they have had such success.
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To make a tired point clear let's look at one more example, my favorite developer, Valve Software. When it comes to PC gaming, Valve is probably the closest thing we'll get to a Messiah. They do no wrong, only speak truth, and every work of theirs is a revelation... It also doesn't hurt that they have an immensely profitable distribution platform and I.P. strength out the yin-yang. The best quality that I would presume that Valve has is their development philosophy. I don't work there, so I honestly can't tell you what exactly that is, but it is made manifest in the games that they make. When playing the original Half-Life you can tell the amount of artistic quality that was put into that game, this is evident in the atmosphere, dialogue, environment, and interactions with A.I., the list could go on. What I really find admirable about Valve is that they didn't rush into a sequel to Half-Life, instead they focused on the community and supporting the mods that helped make them successful like Team Fortress and Counter Strike. Then after developing the Source engine, they released Half-Life 2 along with an early version of Steam. The rest is pretty much well known history, but what I wanted to point out is that they pace themselves, and much like Nintendo, only release products when they are sure they are the best they can be. In some cases it takes only a year like Left 4 Dead 2 or it could be an indefinite project like Half-Life 2: Episode 3. Even if you have the money to take your entire company on vacation every year, quality beats quantity every time.
I look at companies like THQ or On Live and it makes me feel a bit sad inside, the world isn't a better place without them. You need to know how to handle yourself if you are going into any market. Taking a gamble may work out, but you need to be able to support yourself if you lose your bet. Develop within your means. Take your time and focus on what really matters, and never, ever, do it for the money. My best wishes go out to everyone making content in this day and age. Hopefully, with luck, and a lot of determination, maybe one of you with a good idea can actually be a billionaire someday.
- Wayne Strickland
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