I mean, the indie/AA scene is incredible. Modding scenes are unreal. There are incredible AAAs like KCD II, and others (like Cyberpunk) that release rough but age like wine. The back catalog is more accessible, and higher fidelity, than ever.
2007/2013 me would be mind-blown. I don’t know what people are on about.
My biggest gripe is that (on average) it sucks to be a small dev right now. Even if your project is good, whether it’s enough to pay rent is a total roll of the dice, and that is partially because so much attention is vacuumed up by trashy AAAs or mobile gambling simulators.
There is a significant shortage of game investment capital at present. You used to be able to grab some industry talent, hit up some venture people, and put something together with a smallish studio and get funded.
AI swallowed up all the investors. When AI finally collapses (assuming there’s an economy anymore), investors will come back to games again. It’s one of the few markets that survives inflation.
I mean, there are a ton of medium-small games being made at present, and quite a few investor groups and publishers that funded them.
I think a more existential issue is that there are so many games, and their slice of attention is diluted by heavily marketed mobile stuff and some AAAs.
…And I guess there is a gap of true ‘medium’ sized studios, in what feels like the efficiency sweet spot. It feels like publishers either go too big or too small.
I mean, the indie/AA scene is incredible. Modding scenes are unreal. There are incredible AAAs like KCD II, and others (like Cyberpunk) that release rough but age like wine. The back catalog is more accessible, and higher fidelity, than ever.
2007/2013 me would be mind-blown. I don’t know what people are on about.
My biggest gripe is that (on average) it sucks to be a small dev right now. Even if your project is good, whether it’s enough to pay rent is a total roll of the dice, and that is partially because so much attention is vacuumed up by trashy AAAs or mobile gambling simulators.
There is a significant shortage of game investment capital at present. You used to be able to grab some industry talent, hit up some venture people, and put something together with a smallish studio and get funded.
AI swallowed up all the investors. When AI finally collapses (assuming there’s an economy anymore), investors will come back to games again. It’s one of the few markets that survives inflation.
I mean, there are a ton of medium-small games being made at present, and quite a few investor groups and publishers that funded them.
I think a more existential issue is that there are so many games, and their slice of attention is diluted by heavily marketed mobile stuff and some AAAs.
…And I guess there is a gap of true ‘medium’ sized studios, in what feels like the efficiency sweet spot. It feels like publishers either go too big or too small.