I was invited to be moderator for a panel discussion that was part of Reykjavik International Film Festival, hosted for the 9th consecutive year now. In the Panel we had a very interesting group of people or James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot, the directors and producers of Indie Game. Torfi Frans Ólafsson, articistic Director of CCP, Jónas Björgvin Antonsson, founder and CEO of Gogogic the gaming company and finally Sesselja Vilhjálmsdóttir, director of Startup Kids and founder of a startup called KinWins.
The topic was about “the growth of computer games and possibilities for independent producers in the future.
To summarize some of the main points:
Q: [Quote from Youtube] „These people are just delusional, really delusional. 8-bit and 16-bit old games are far better than what any indie game developer have ever released. Sorry, but commercial games will always be better and fun to play. These indie game developers resemble those other developers who code for linux, they just don’t care about the consumer so why should the consumer care about their products.“
A[Lisanne]: You don’t have to create your product for the masses. If you can build a game and only get 50.000 users or customers, that is often enough for you to survive and build another one. Not everyone needs to be mainstream. Also a lot of the creativity that is being pushed through some of the bigger games out there, often starts up in the indie games. Probably all of the lead developers and gamers in the bigger main stream corporations play indie games and follow up on the trends happening there.
Q: "People in the movie repeatedly mention the disdain they have for the mainstream gaming world of video games. They even go as far as saying that it would be “hell” to work for a company like EA or Epic. But it doesn’t really explode into more than simple ranting.” –Is the creativity being killed in bigger businesses and is it true what Indie gamers feel about big main stream gaming corps?
A [Torfi]: CCP try not to think of themselves yet to be a mig monster corporate business, although they have definitely gotten bigger now, with more processes, that are simply needed when you have a couple of hundred employees. What we [ccp], try to do is divide our developers into small “startup teams”, so they have a similar urge and freedom as the independent startups out there.
Q. How big do you consider the gaming sphere to be today? Do you think there will be more growth in the upcoming future? Is it harder or easier to build games now then it used to be?
A {Torfi]: Its easier to build games today. You don’t have to build a gaming engine from scratch up in 1-2 years like in the past. Today you have businesses such as Unity and others that grant you that access. The day you have an idea for a game its not that hard to put it out there.
A. [General feedback from others]: Generally true that it might not be as hard to make the games, however there is also a lot more competition. Getting a customer mass that gets you good revenues might be harder to day then before, while making the games is easier.
Q: It is noticeable in the movie that the game creators don’t necessarily feel they care at all about the responses and feedback they get to the game. Is this a mask they put up or the actual reality?
A [Jónas]: Sure, thats the game face, but of course the developers and game designs care what people think. The likes, feedbacks, good complimentary emails and general interest in a gamers work is always encouraging and often more important them people realize.
Q: Where do you think the biggest opportunities in gaming lies in the next upcoming years?
A [General answer]: Gamification is everywhere. Its not just nerds playing video games anymore its everybody and its becoming more natural.
A [Sesselja]: in KinWins for example we are creating a game where everyday life is turned into a game. Therefore people can use the game to become better and being the type of person they want to be.
General summary:
The Q/A went a little bit off track but the Panel speakers had some very interesting thoughts on the development of games and general gaming in the future. I highly recommend you to watch both the movie Indie games and Startup Kids, which really give you a great insight into the world of entrepreneurship and the cons and pros of going into that spectrum.
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