It seems like if what you’re showing is what you understand they find appealing and fun, then surely that’s what should be in the game. You give them that.
But instead, you give them something else that is unrelated to what they’ve seen on the ad? A gem matching candy crush clone they’ve seen a thousand times?
How is that model working? How is that holding up as a marketing technique???
Yeah. All of this rings really true. I find it really sad because not long ago it felt like a lot of games cropped up from small indie groups. Hell, many of the big names now like blizzard were formed by small groups of friends. But it feels like in the 2010s, big entertainment money got involved and now it’s a festering cesspool.
Accurate, though I would say that the rot started earlier than that. Most of the companies we know and love were started and run by people who just liked making games. But those people have long been replaced by money extractors. I think it really started in earnest around the early 2000s, but it took a long time for it to start to show. There’s also the fact that we look back and forget about all the shovelware from decades past. And that’s not even getting into the working conditions, which easily goes back to the 80s.
The indie scene today is the strongest it’s ever been, thanks to the rise of digital distribution and access to game dev tools. We live in a world where little indie teams can get their games released on Nintendo digital storefronts and there are websites dedicated to just indie games. Social media has made it easier than ever for small creators to gather large followings of dedicated fans. But at the same time, the gulf between the indie scene and the big companies has never been wider. I can’t think of a single time where an indie team has gone on to create a new AAA studio.
It’s frustrating to watch both as a gamer and as somebody who once dreamt of joining that industry.
Yeah, I think you’re totally right. I didn’t mean that it started in 2010s, more that it was basically the norm by then and it’s a giant cesspool now. But looking back, my wording wasn’t super clear on that distinction. I do think it was around in the 2000s, but its gotten much worse with time.
I’m also super frustrated as a gamer, but to your point, thank god the indie scene is running strong.
I mean, in the 80s and 90s we still got flooded with garbage games made in a month just to make a quick buck. I think Sturgeon’s Law has always been in effect, the only difference is that there’s so much more of everything now (both good and bad), and marketing teams have gotten so much more effective at farming engagement. But I think that <10% is always there and still worth people’s time to both make and play.