There's
been a lot of doom and gloom about the industry lately bemoaning the
lack of innovation and indie development. While the outlook today is
bleak, the only constant in this industry is change, so it's not likely
to stay that way forever.
Well, ok, it could
actually stay that way forever, but there are a number of factors
coming together over the next five to ten years that will change the
nature of indie game development.
The Role of the Auteur
First,
a little bit of definition for those not familiar with the term auteur
- it first arose in film criticism in the early '50s and rose to
prominence in the '60s. Auteur theory
refers to the notion that a film (or, to an extent, any medium
requiring extensive creative collaboration), can be message of one
person's artistic vision. While many people may work together to form
that vision, one person (in some productions) serves as the driving
force behind the wide range of elements in the film or game. This is
evidenced by a consistent selection of various stylistic elements - all
crafted to present the message the auteur wants to express.
While
not an explicit element of the basic theory, auteurs typically have a
comprehensive understanding of the structural elements of their medium.
In film, a director considered to be an auteur often has a solid grasp
of screenwriting, cinematography, production, beyond just directing. An
auteur uses this to convey his stylistic requirements to those people
responsible for creating each individual area of the production.
While
the game industry has had individuals who have fit this description,
they have been few and far between. Where is this new breed going to
come from? Well, there's always the roundabout path for any auteur
motivated enough to get the knowledge he or she needs to succeed, but
that's changing. As existing game design schools & programs mature
and as new ones are created, students with the desire to express
themselves in their medium of choice, one they have grown up with) will
flock to them.
I'm
not going to argue the effectiveness of these programs, since I
currently teach in the Vancouver Film School's Game Design program (so
I'd be a bit biased). While it's probably not possible to cover every
topic involved in game design in depth in a four year program much less
a shorter one, students do get exposed to a lot of ideas across
disciplines; the motivated ones will follow that up with their own
studies.
Market Factors
Now
that we have a group of educated, passionate auteurs, what difference
will that make in an industry even more risk-averse than Hollywood?
Additional economic factors will provide a breeding ground for these
developers to capitalize on their self-expression.
Market Size & the Indie Niche
For
every marketing dollar EA, Microsoft, Sony, et al spend, some small
tiny fraction of that goes to increasing the overall size of the market
(attracting new people via TV commercials, MTV shows, etc.). Meanwhile,
the "casual" game market is expanding as well.
As
the overall market of game players increases, the subset of people
interested in indie development will naturally increase. Have an
interest in indie artists in any medium usually takes more effort
(finding new artists via word of mouth or niche communities) and so
most people are not interested in putting forth that effort. The
formulaic nature of most game development will slowly help spur some of
these new players to look for new sources of game experiences.
Production Costs
With
production costs rising for traditional retail development, how can
indies compete? How can they get attention when traditional retail
games have such high production values? As they always have in any
medium, via their creativity and drive.
Game
middleware manufacturers' typically have an independent developer
program, for instance - their costs for an additional client w/lowered
support is negligible, but the potential payoff can be large should the
indie succeed. As game middleware matures a smaller team can compete by
wisely using the tools they can get access to.
The
easiest way to compete against rising production values is to
incorporate aesthetic and stylistic devices with cheaper costs but big
impact into the production. Introversion's Darwinia
is a great example of this - faced with a small team and the desire to
build a compelling real time strategy game, they adopted a retro, Tron-like
art style which was not only easier to build but gave the game a unique
feel. An auteur's vision for a production often ties together these
stylistic elements that provide more resonance, but at cheaper costs.
Console
vendors will realize they have a vested interest in encouraging indie
development on their consoles. For all the independent games they help
develop, even one runaway hit helps to differentiate their console from
their competitors. They have to some extent already done this, as with
Microsoft's developer incubator program. Hopefully, this trend will
continue, including both access to development kits as well as funding
programs.
Procedural
content will burgeon in the auteur-driven indie market. With their
combined technical knowledge and design vision, they can build
procedural content systems that provide both compelling gameplay and
simplify production. Relying on techniques like these is the hallmark
of the indie - work smarter, not harder.
Funding
Today,
it's nigh unto impossible for an indie to get funding from a
traditional publisher. This probably won't change much. However, the
number of people disposed to invest in indie development on any scale
will increase, a simple byproduct of the market size increasing. This
in turn will make it easier for auteurs to use their creativity to find
diverse sources of funding. Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, et al. funded Evil Dead
by collecting investments from local doctors, dentists, and anybody
with cash they could convince. Then there are other creative examples
like Robert Rodriguez, who earned the $7000 he needed to make El Mariachi
by joining experimental drug testing programs. I'm not encouraging
anyone to expose themselves to experimental drugs for the sake of
making their game, but my point is the motivated usually find a way.
Distribution Channels
Everyone
has heralded online distribution as the savior of independent
development, but it still has a ways to go. The answers to Gamasutra's Question of the Week
on the topic of online distribution illustrates that its effect on
traditional retail distribution has yet to be seen, but it is
unarguable that the channel is at least available as a potential indie
resource.
Community
There have been lots of strides towards a definitive independent game festival (the IGF
being the best contender thus far). But what is really necessary is a
circuit of festivals, because they are one of the main promotional
tools an independent developer has to get their game noticed. These
festivals also need to get better at getting indie developers talking
to each other, sharing information and ideas. While game design
programs offer the opportunity for auteurs to meet like-minded people,
widespread indie game festivals are an opportunity to create a much
larger independent game developer community. So we have a lot of work
to do on this front, but it's getting there.
Publisher Consolidation
Surely
if publishers are slowly gobbling each other up, this can't bode well
for the diversity of games? It's not quite that simple. With more
publishers, each one typically tries to compete in every major market
segment, lowering their ability to find new ones. Let's say there are
ten major publishers, and each one has to have a WW2 FPS in order to
compete with the others in that sub-genre. Those ten publishers merge
into five, but a newly merged publisher doesn't want to have two
products competing directly with each other. It continues one WW2 FPS
and searches for another product given its new development capacity.
I'm not saying they won't make a WW1 FPS, but every little bit helps.
The Impact on Non-Independent Development
All
the factors that will help promote independent development will also
cause us to see more well defined auteurs in charge of non-independent
commercial games. This will have an impact on the industry in a few
visible ways.
Team Size & Structure
I'm
sure everyone's read at least a couple articles, with notable quotes
from EA executives, about rising team sizes for next-gen games. If
everybody developed games the way EA typically has, this would be true.
What is more likely is divergent team sizes. All the market
factors that will help independent developers reduce production costs
can be used to reduce team sizes.
Some
teams will make a conscious decision to stay small and take longer to
avoid problems of complexity caused by large teams. Others may adapt Wideload's
model where a small team of multidisciplinary experts prototype a spec
that outside contractors can work with. Regardless, an auteur needs to
streamline the communication path to those people implementing his or
her vision. This means a judicious use of hierarchy where necessary -
more so than your typical game team today, but not to the point where
communication is crippled because of too many layers of hierarchy.
Thematic Growth
The
notable thing about artists with something to say is that they have
something to say - most popular games today don't have much thematic
depth beyond delivering on one simple fantasy. And while it's fun being
an all powerful superhero, unstoppable gangster, alien fighting space
ninja, etc. now that we have a market of older gamers, we have the
potential to focus on gameplay that relates to more complex desires in
the player, even if it's wrapped in one of those same fantasies.
Increased Auteur Branding
Jason Rubin argues
that the industry should promote key developers of a game. The biggest
successes of this will be those single individuals that most impact the
overall vision of the game. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the
industry and the people in it, this could be the lead designer, tech
director, art director, or someone else entirely. As more auteurs work
in commercial development, look to see an increase in publisher's
attempts to brand them via press and box text. Double Fine's Psychomauts
has "from the mind of Tim Schafer" on the box, for example. Just
please, all I ask is that you don't put your name in the title.
A Timeline
So
when might some of these factors have a visible impact? Given the state
of indie development today, we can make some rough estimates:
3 years:
- First
definitively successful indie game in the retail outlet (or reaching a
comparable market size via online distribution). We've seen partial
successes like The Behemoth's Alien Hominid, but most of these haven't been a huge financial success (if their developers are lucky, it's enough to keep them going).
5 years:
- A financially successful indie game competes with big budget productions in terms of production values.
- An indie developer gathers lots of mainstream press for unique, not easily repeatable funding model.
6-8 years:
- A reliable show circuit for indie games is in place.
- Industry print magazine dedicated specifically to independent development.
8-10 years:
- Multiple
instances of cross-media indie success (independent game promoted with
a comic, film, animation/TV, as Foundation 9 is attempting with Death, Jr.).
10+ years
- At
least one school's game design program has produced a notable financial
success, causing it to serve as a major hub for incoming game design
students.
- The
balance of companies in the industry shifts to more of an equilibrium
between internal publisher studios and independently owned developers.
Make It Happen
While
these factors may all be coming to a head, the best way to make sure it
happens is to go out and make it happen. If you want to see more
independent games, put your money where your mouth is. Download their
games, play them, buy them, buy their t-shirts, and tell your friends.
If
you consider yourself an auteur, want to share your stories from the
trenches of indie game development, swap funding strategies, or just
bitch about the state of the industry in general, I'd love to hear from
you - email me at [email protected].
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[Article illustration by Greg Brauch.]