A common misconception in this age is that creativity means productivity. But creativity doesn’t mean completing things and shipping them.
I am very creative, but I am unproductive with most of my own projects. You know, those books I want to write and indie games I want to make. The intention to change that is always there, but it is what it is.
If you want to increase your chances of financial success you need to be productive, or “lucky”. But you can always choose creativity, it’s free.
The 3 main markets on PC and Console are indie, AA, and AAA. The discussion around them focuses on things like budget, scope, and quality.
I would like to propose two questions to address each of these three challenges. The first will be around our ambition (why), while in the second one, we will use the lens of the art (what).
Indie games for me are a message to the world. The message can be important on a personal level and an exercise of talent. You can want to change the world or show that we are here. So let’s ask ourselves:
1. Ambition: why do I want to say this to the world?
2. Art: what does the world should have the courage to listen to?
These games come from companies who want a commercial product, doing a few things well. Let’s ask ourselves.
1. Ambition: why are we focusing on these 1-2 mechanics?
2. Art: according to current and past trends, what will be trending in 2 years?
These are spectacular games and full of things to do. We can consider these games like monuments, and the mental effort of the team is enormous. Let’s ask ourselves:
1. Ambition: why do we want to build a monument that big?
2. Art: what will make this work a masterpiece?
For me, game genres are not markets. For example, there is no “merge games market”. There are “merge games” in the “mobile market”.
Every time I see a team created like this:
in 3-5-7 years everything gets shut down without results. Surprise, there was no market at all.
When do I see that things work?
In this case, the probability of success increases. Even if the timing is somewhat unpredictable (never seen a success in less than 7-10 years, in mobile f2p).
Games please our entertainment needs uniquely.
The fact that a specific game gets massive doesn’t mean we have a new market around its genre.
This means it has found its audience in the market, which is different!
I write for the Internet a lot, sometimes much more than I would. I feel an unstoppable desire to share my thoughts, especially on my beloved games industry. That has consequences, as you can imagine.
One of the bland consequences is that some people, usually more inexperienced, believe that I am “successful”. Meaning I make a lot of money. Well, my friend, in this age of Feudalism 2.0 I am struggling just like you. Thank God I can maintain my family with my work, but I have also the support of my parents often.
I have periods with 0 clients and 0 incomes, but I was born on the richest side of the World. You may want to say that I am very passionate, and I really am. But if you believe that I am economically successful, I am afraid you are in the wrong direction.
What I really achieved in the last 10 years was to not add problems on top of systemic ones. The fact that we live in a gig economy, that the job market is unstable, that the games industry is built too often on pure dreams… I cannot control that. What I can control is my way of being a professional.
When I say that I work in creative direction, vision, and so on, someone will probably imagine Hideo Kojima at work. That is not the case. Most of my job is to:
Important to note that I am always working, as a freelancer, on projects ideated by others. I do not agree with the basis of many of them, but those pay my bills. I am appreciated because I deliver and I speak clearly. I do not fight for my ideas, because I know that the more I am in the industry, the more I am biased as well as experienced. So who knows in the end?
After the shutdown of a Netflix studio, I read the opinions of many experts. One of the most common ideas is that Netflix needs its hardware to create a healthy games business.
To sketch up this idea, I also used LLM platforms. I will not publish any images, because they are based on stolen copyrights, but still, I want to admit that I used them for inspiration.
Netflix can reinvent the concept of the console, as they reinvented the business of VHS renting years ago.
The core audience is, of course, people (like myself) who have a Netflix subscription and who love video games. People that probably have kids, and work using technology.
We love to jump from series to series, we are nostalgic about the old days when games were simpler and gamepads had fewer buttons!
The new console should:
The games allowed on the platform should follow these rules:
The console can have a retro look but its colors and curved lines will attract new audiences.
The gamepads will have fewer buttons than new consoles. Every game should be simpler than competitors. Also, they can “wrap” a smartphone inside.
The YouTube channel of popular game director Masahiro Sakurai has come to an end.
This will remain an outstanding document that hopefully will teach basics to generations to come. Thank you Masahiro San!
Regarding this last video above, I am impressed with the work ethic and discipline. I couldn’t never have this level of mastery because I have a different background and life. Still, there are something to learn not just on video production, but on content design in general:
Masahiro San says that he invested around $630k and got $0 as revenue. He did this just for the improvement of our beloved industry. I would like to see more Masahiros around here…
It always makes me smile when a team member says in a meeting “I don’t know what to do right now…”
I think about the luxury that underlies this expression. A farmer or a factory worker could never say something like that!
One thing I communicate is the importance of being professional. Game design is about identifying the systems and timing to make certain moves.
Systems, timing, moves.
The moves can go well or badly, it doesn’t matter. I mean, of course, it does, but even if they go badly, it is important to do them on the one hand and learn on the other. A client last year told me: “Look, I accept bad news. What I don’t like are surprises”.
Examples of moves we can make when we don’t know what to do:
It’s up to you to identify the systems and the timing, and now I hope you have something to do!
A programmer introduces bugs into the code. An artist creates assets that perhaps go a little outside the visual style of the game. A game designer explains himself poorly.
Communication is where we make the most mistakes in our work as designers.
So don’t say:
Even when you’re asked for something that is outside your duties. You’re sure you wrote it in the GDD. Even when your colleague doesn’t seem to understand. You’ve been in contact with players and you know for sure that they don’t want it.
Communication, unlike bugs and visuals, can create friendships and enmities. Every misunderstanding is an opportunity to strengthen a creative vision.
Do this:
Sometimes I dust off my old Dreamcast, connect it, and replay Crazy Taxi, Soulcalibur, Frame Gride, and Chu-chu Rocket. I feel like they are gifts that I sent to myself from the past.
Before, the support contained the entire game, not just a license. You bought it and they lasted “forever”.
The market has evolved, and commercial expectations have changed. In the last generations, you can play a game you bought until it is removed. There are many reasons for this, but in the channels I follow to get information I often read the frustration of many people. Games are perceived as something expensive (it is not true, they are not) and uncertain. You buy the license, but you do not know if it will last.
Game-as-a-service has added limitations on top of that for this specific audience: they are always connected games, potentially infinite.
In summary:
– it is not clear whether the game belongs to you or not
– it is not clear how long you will have access when you buy it
– it is not clear why you have to wait for connections to servers and login to external services
– it is not clear who’s this guy on the other side playing with me and what are his real intentions
– it is not clear if and when you can beat the game
– it is not clear what will happen if you miss some event
In this, frankly, I prefer the old style, where the only thing that was not clear was how the game itself worked. Onboarding to games has improved a lot, but before you just had to press a button and you were in a few seconds.
Not anymore. Today, pressing a button makes us feel a bit spied on by systems that want to figure out how to get more money out of us.
It is very true that the industry has matured, that it employs many more people, and that these are increasingly sophisticated games. However, the player experience for this specific audience (which is a big audience) has worsened in many ways.
And I see a business opportunity there.
Reading the terrible news about a company that is praised in the industry, I think we are approaching one of the worst moments in the industry. I am talking about Roblox, of course.
The feeling I have is the domino effect, which will spread especially in businesses that are supported by attention.
We have all played that game that makes us think “but how can this game be so successful?“
Well, often it is because the numbers are rigged and the players are not real people, but machines. New technologies only make this situation worse. I am afraid that many CEOs are playing the wrong game here. Faking the numbers, looking for the short term, that is the result.
It’s sad, but it’s good for the future of the industry in my opinion. We need some people out.