Opening Studio Doors To Fans

Although the main evidence is anecdotal, it seems clear that features such as Forge (which enables fans to collaboratively create and share custom games) are an acknowledgement of the importance of these communities for Bungie. The folks populating Bungie's various communities certainly recognize the shift in power that these tools represent. Any number of comments on the forums could be cited with essentially the same sentiment that we found in user ChaOtic's post on the official Bungie.net forums: "So excited for forge. Its gonna be awesome. Thanks for the heads up luke."

Bungie has become most successful at providing unprecedented access to the people and process that combine to create its games via the Bungie Studios Podcast. Since Smith brought his experience in podcasting from 1UP, this has become more regular and substantial in its opening of the studio doors to the public. Mission Designers, Sound Engineers, Test Managers and AI Programmers have helped paint a picture of what it is like to work at Bungie. As Smith recently commented during a visit back to the EGM Live podcast, "with the [Bungie] podcast we are focusing on getting our listeners and fans familiar with a bunch of the different faces at Bungie studios".

The Bungie podcast is a tangible step toward giving their hard-core customers a real insight into how games development works. When we asked John Davison, former Editorial Director of Ziff Davis, which publishes 1UP and EGM, he said, "it's the kind of relationship that previous generations couldn't have dreamed of having with their entertainment idols".

This really is the case -- fans are treated to a highly detailed account of each activity, even down to the bugtracking tools they use to manage their process. But perhaps more importantly than this, it manages to communicate the day-to-day experience of working in the environment to the fanbase, warts and all.

Turning Around A Negative Image

Although a very different animal, Sony's PlayStation.Blog also seems to be drawing on an increasingly open and transparent approach to communication with the company's hardcore following. Its previous communication had largely been closed and corporate in tone -- even, at times, insulting to consumers, truth told. The blog provides an open and direct space that enables Sony to appear less arrogant and more in-touch with the consumer's experience, something that has been welcomed across the board.

In a style that is more reminiscent of an indie developer than that of a major corporation, the blog provides space for wide swath of Sony's employees to talk informally about the projects they are working on. Along with up-to-the-minute news and information, these editorials provide a valuable window into the inner workings of the PlayStation world that has previously been out of the public glare.

The most significant aspect of the blog is not the content itself per se, but the style of communication. Posts are frank about failures and transparent about future plans to a degree that is most refreshing for a major platform holder. In just a few months, it has gone a long way to enable consumers to recover a sense of ownership of the Playstation project.