In a recent Gamasutra post titled, Creating industry ecosystems: How indie developers contribute to large firm success, I explained why large companies need to work with talented independent developers to infuse the video game industry with new ideas.
In recent years there has been a transformation in the way people think about games. As development costs skyrocket and video game companies compete for the same customers, more studios are finding success in markets that traditionally have not been well served by the industry.
Games like flOw are helping to bring fresh ideas to the industry.
The problem becomes one of how to reach new customers with new ideas without betting the farm on concepts that may not work. For some companies, the answer has been to enter into partnerships with independent studios.
Independent studios, like independent filmmakers, are typically more innovative than large studios. What they lack is the funds to bring grand ideas to fruition. Large publishers and studios need to enter into partnerships with independent studios as a way to build relationships with some of the brightest minds in the industry.
This use of open innovation recognizes that large companies can no longer conceive, design, develop and market new products and services all on their own. No firm has all the knowledge capabilities, money or time needed in today´s costly environment. Firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, to advance their technology.
In Innovation and Marketing in the Video Game Industry: Avoiding the Performance Trap, we discuss how companies like Sony are partnering with independent studios to create games the push the limits of technology and innovation.
Last week, Gamasutra posted an interview with two game developers who have benefited from this new model, Kellee Santiago and Robin Hunicke of TGC. Santiago noted that “there are some movements in publishers – but especially in independent or VC-funded studios – towards a more project-oriented funding structure like you see in film.”
Instead of the software company model where you would buy a piece of the company and maybe rights to the IP, there is some motion away from that, and at the start it will depend on whether those initial projects are successful or not. So I’m really hoping that those investments go well and we do move towards that model, as it does permit a lot more creative freedom in a company.
In fact, it is the lack of “creative freedom” that programmers at large studios often complain about. Tim Ryan wrote about his frustration as a game developer in Lead Designers Who Only Say ‘No’.
I’ve literally had a boss say to me. ‘Sorry, you can’t do that. It’s not what Halo would do.’ In fact, ‘What would Halo do?’ was his motto. In this case, he’s not defying tradition as in the previous example, he’s just not thinking beyond his competition.
In a comment at the end of the article, Ryan adds,
There’s safety in doing what’s been done. There’s less risk for a designer who says “No” to the new and “Yes” to the tried and true. I think the same is true all the way up to green-light committees. They pay lip-service to developing original IP, but in the end just chase whatever hits currently dominate the charts.
That makes sense given the amount of investment at risk. Large publishers cannot afford to risk big budget titles on unproven concepts. Instead, partnerships are helping to fill the void and ensuring that great ideas continue to reshape the industry. In TGC’s case, Sony wanted to “experiment” with new models, like digital distribution. “TGC games have that sort of fresh and intimate feeling,” explained Robin Hunicke, who joined TGC later in the project.
They’re really handcrafted – you can’t help but love them when you play them. That’s something that I think any developer notices immediately. It was clear to me that they are extremely concerned about the player experience – and that’s not something that’s just lip-service; it’s something that they think about every day.
"There's safety in doing what's been done." Big budget titles like Final Fantasy XIII cannot afford to experiment with unproven concepts.
Although large companies may not have the luxury to think about “fresh” experiences when tens of millions of dollars are at stake, they can continue to drive innovation through partnerships with small studios that are less afraid to experiment with new ideas.
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