The new year for the gaming industry has begun with volatility and bad news about studio closures.
With the fluctuating state of the global games market and the recent negative press and publicity about alleged fraud in the independent games sector, these are difficult times for many small and medium sized independent development studios.
After years in which the global market defied crises, pandemics, and economic downturns, and the games industry enjoyed a heyday that saw even Hollywood's movie industry catch up, many areas of the industry seem to be stagnating. As the New Year begins, news of companies closing down is already beginning to pile up. Massive layoffs and job losses, including the closure of entire development studios, have been reported by both major studios and publishers.
This generally tense period, and the previous scandals surrounding titles such as The Day Before (Fntastic Studio), have made the press, the media, and the gaming community more skeptical and more cautious than in previous years.
And with good reason, at a time when the Early Access has become a symbol for many (not only) indie games, and in some cases an early access either delivers an unfinished game or turns an early access into a permanent version of the unfinished game, much to the frustration of interested players, It is not surprising that some people in the scene do not get involved with the upcoming secret tip, but rather give it a wide berth. A possible game with a lot of potential gets lost in the endless mass of titles in digital storefronts like Steam or Epic Online Store.
For many of the smaller studios and individual developers, that means the end after years of work and (usually) no revenue or gain before the game even sees the light of day.
And even if a developer is in control of these factors and the game is finally out the door, the next big hurdle is already on the horizon:
How do I get my product out to the market? How do I make players aware of it?
At the moment, there is a reluctance on the part of many of the major game portals and websites to cover smaller niche projects: The level of distrust and the fear of the next scandal is just too high.
For years, the global market has been flooded with unfinished games whose goal seems to be to make as much money as possible, as fast as possible, and then remain untouched without getting hotfixed or patched.
In this day and age, the demands on indie developers are high, and some projects will never leave the prototype or alpha stage; the pressure is too great, and the fear that their game will be a flop and all the effort will have been in vain.
In the near future, the computer games market and industry should not only rethink its early access practices and provide mechanisms to limit their duration and require a certain level of quality and playability, but also rethink the general practice of media-effective cooperation and coverage of smaller projects and developers.
Daniel Gippert, Founder & CEO Chrysalis Interactive™
