2. Further Independence
For as long as we can remember, video games have been created through the combined efforts of two parties. There are the developers, who actually make the game, and the publishers, who manage the resources and distribute it. For a while, this partnership worked in everyones favor. However, publishers have since become huge multimillion dollar companies, and recently it has become clear that they have grown too big. They have so much power and so little knowledge of what really matters to gamers, and the results have been the implementation of some dirty business practices. Day one DLC, bloated and unnecessary budgets, micro-transactions, obnoxious anti-piracy measures, and even the release of unfinished games are just some of the issues the video game industry faces on an increasingly common basis. Very few commercial industries would be able to get away with such blatant consumer abuse, yet for some reason the video game industry does so regularly to the point of becoming common practice. Mass marketed and commercialised publisher made games are killing the industry with their unnecessarily large budgets, derivative and lazy game design, and poor treatment of their consumers. Luckily for us, the internet has lit a beacon of hope in the form of independent game development. Now more than ever, game developers can forgo the partnership with a publisher without the certainty of failure. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow developers to turn to the gamers themselves for funding, allowing the free market and audience interest to create future video games, instead of statistic and poll driven market analysis. Small and independently developed video games are becoming more common, and we have gotten many great titles as a result. Online fueled economies will only continue to grow, and hopefully with that more independently made games as well. We are increasingly relying on the indie games to provide us with more compelling and innovative games, and the industry is slowly changing as a result. For the sake of the video games we play, let us hope this tread continues.