The Games Industry Needs More Competence Not ‘Innovation’
One of the perennial complaints leveled against the games industry is that the industry is ‘Stagnant’ and needs more ‘Innovation.’
I’ve fallen into that train of thought myself a couple of years ago during the period known as ‘The Time of Brown Military Shooters.’
Gradually, I came to another realization, what I really want to see is more good games, that the game is ‘innovative’ is secondary to the fact that the game must be good.
One shooter that was innovative is Kill.Switch
When most people say they want innovation, they actually mean they want good games that are also innovative. Making something innovative isn’t the hard part, making something great is a much bigger challenge. Thomas Edison defined genius as 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, I would say making a great game is 1% idea and 99% execution.
So if you really want more innovative games, the solution isn’t asking publishers to ‘take more risks’ or asking the developers to be more ‘creative,’ the solution is for developers to do the much harder task of becoming better at the craft of making games.
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about 2 years ago
I think the solution is more than simply asking developers to improve at the craft of making games. If that is the entire solution, we’re doomed to ever-more-polished Brown Military Shooters.
There’s a second half to the equation, which is what publishers need to do if they’re truly committed to building value in the long term. That is to put their support (i.e. money, time, marketing and infrastructure) behind developers who have a proven record of consistently executing at a high level, both creatively and in production. That’s the difference between “taking risks” and “making calculated investments”. That’s what builds new IPs that both move the medium forward AND generate value in the long term.
(disclaimer: I work for such a company)
about 2 years ago
@Chris – I think publishers are starting to realize the importance of developers who actually knows how to make games, but there are preciously few studios who knows how to do it.
So while making the studio you work for even greater is important, I think it is more important to have more great studios.