When I think about the future of games and look at the trends, I can’t help but notice that it’s getting easier and easier to make games. The real struggle in the industry is distributing and selling them, simply because there are too many games out there. Since it’s so easy to publish them, even a student can put a small, silly project online. This inevitably complicates the search algorithms.
Still, the act of game making is a great mental effort. To me, it’s like playing music or, as I mentioned a few days ago, practicing a sport.
Today, you can take a picture and post it online; you can also make a game and publish it. I feel we are missing an opportunity here: to encourage people to think not just about making money or productivity, but to play with the concept of creation the way they play with their smartphone camera.
We have Roblox and Fortnite, among many examples of games where certain cohorts can create experiences. Yet, there is often money involved, and I’m not sure about that focus. I feel like the modding community, which creates for the pure sake of fun, can teach us a lot and help us find new ways to express our creativity.