Indie-pendence Day - Game History PDF

// 1 INDIE- PENDENCE DAY GAME HISTORY // 2 TODAY’S TOPICS / STEAM / INDIE HISTORY...

// 1 INDIE- PENDENCE DAY GAME HISTORY // 2 TODAY’S TOPICS / STEAM / INDIE HISTORY / BUSINESS MODELS / INDUSTRY PRODUCTION Digital Arts and Entertainment GAME HISTORY // 3 PART 1 S T E A M INDIE-PENDENCE DAY GAME HISTORY // 4 OPEN THE VALVE Before Steam, Valve was merely a fantastic developer. Steam grew out of the company’s frustration with patching its games, which at the turn of the millennium involved players having to first find out a patch was available, go to the correct site to download it and then run it. This problem first came to light with Counter-Strike, a competitive game that regularly needed exploits and bugs fixed, and where Valve noticed that, post-patch, the player base would drop off significantly. Steam was concepted as a way to distribute and update games automatically, and then, through this constant connection to players, also help Valve deal with constant problems like cheaters and piracy. The service went into beta with Counter-Strike in January 2003 and was officially released for Windows PCs on 12 September 2003. But it wasn’t until the release of Valve’s highly anticipated Half-Life 2 – where Steam installation was mandatory even with a copy bought in stores – that it began to gather serious numbers of users. // 5 NO COMPETITIO N Steam’s position looks unassailable, but equally has led to various attempts to compete with it. Both EA and Ubisoft have launched their own platforms, but both are much inferior to Steam in the range of games offered – and the thing is that the vast majority of players and developers don’t want an alternative. This is because Valve is an unusual company, highly responsive to feedback and particularly driven by what the data says. Since release it has continued to add features to Steam. Steam’s dominance is not welcomed by all PC gamers however, because it allows Valve unprecedented access to customer data and habits, and also gives the company the right to revoke ownership of a user’s content. That is, if you own games on Steam they are only ‘your’ games until either Steam disappears forever or Valve decides to cancel your Steam account. The chances of either of these happening is extraordinarily slim, of course, but the principle remains. // 6 PEER REVIE W The first non-Valve game to be released on Steam was Rag Doll Kung Fu in October 2005, and the service’s features and user base soon saw this turn into a flood of third-party PC releases. No one is exactly sure how much of the PC games market goes through Steam, but estimates range from 70 to 80 per cent. This creates its own problems, such as usability and visibility of newly released and indie games that don’t have huge marketing budgets. Valve’s solution is the Valve solution: community. Steam is evolving its social features to make peer recommendation a central part of the network, with users able to ‘curate’ selections of games – with the theory being that the community will find their own good sifters. // 7 WORKING AT VALVE It is almost incidental that Valve develops some of the best PC games around and is run in a manner quite unlike any other company. There are no job titles at Valve, its developers are free to move from project to project as they see fit, and marketing director Doug Lombardi estimates more than half of the company’s employees come from the community. The team that made Portal were hired after presenting a student demo; the Team Fortress 2 designers were contracted after making the original mod, before being employed outright. Valve provides endless sources of interest. To name a few: cofounder Gabe Newell is an inspiring speaker, whose genuinely benevolent instincts have somehow made his company one of the richest in gaming; its practice of hiring modders and community creators, rather than posh graduates; the sheer quality of every product it releases, and the satisfaction that comes with knowing it will be supported for a long time. // 8 PART 2 I N D I E HI S T O R Y INDIE-PENDENCE DAY GAME HISTORY // 9 INDIE-PENDENCE DAY SHORT INDIE HISTORY What started off as a simple question: "What is an indie game?" Led one man to read way too much legalese on Valve and other major gaming publishers. From multiple controversial opinions, including "Is The Untitled Goose Game more impactful than Death Stranding?" and "Is Half-Life 2 an Indie Game?" We may all come to understand the gaming landscape better, and maybe even learn to love ourselves a little more. THE HISTORY OF INDIE GAMES // GAME MAKER The omnipresence of the internet, and as a result the number of PCs connected to it, has seen a flourishing of independent development. Since the turn of the millennium were the tools available to make a game and the global distribution the internet allows have changed everything. In 1999 Dutch computer scientist Mark Overmars released a program called Animo, which was initially used to create 2D animations easily. But thanks to a powerful built-in scripting language, it soon became much more. Animo evolved into GameMaker, a program that through a drag-and-drop interface and its own simplified ‘coding’ language allowed people with no experience or knowledge of coding to create a functional video game. GAMEMAKER // MORE GAME MAKERS GameMaker is the most fully featured tool available to developers, but there are others with a more narrow focus. Chris Klimas’s Twine was released in 2009, an opensource tool that enables the easy creation of multiple-choice text adventures – which allows not just the creation of entire games but rapid prototyping of ideas, and has seen thousands of works. Twine’s capabilities have subsequently evolved to incorporate more complex visual tricks, and its low barrier to entry surpasses even GameMaker in allowing anyone who can type a sentence to create a functional video game. There are other specialized programs, such as RPG Maker, but tools are only half the story. Regardless of what independent developers are using to create their games, and many of course are excellent programmers with no need of GameMaker, the real difference is in the ability to sell directly to players and through this create what would traditionally have been considered niche or risky titles. // MINECRAFT The greatest indie success story is without a doubt Minecraft (2009). Swedish developer Markus Persson, better known by the handle ‘Notch’, was a compulsive player of games and, like all great artists, something of a hoarder. Minecraft was inspired by several games, among them the roguelike Dwarf Fortress (2006) and most obviously American developer Zachary Barth’s Infiniminer (2009) – a world constructed from large cubes that players could mine through, discovering materials and treasure from which they could construct new objects. Persson loved the game and spent hours experimenting with what it allowed, finally deciding that his next project would be something similar. The core of Minecraft is creation. In each game the world is procedurally generated as the player explores it, and they begin with basic tools that can be used to mine blocks, gain materials and eventually construct other objects. It is a first-person experience where the highly stylized visuals occasionally verge on abstraction but allow a huge draw distance, and the two most important aspects are that it can be played cooperatively, and it can be modified by users. // WORLD OF MODCRAFT As sales increased Persson was able to quit his job and concentrate on the game full time, meaning it was constantly updated with new materials, new features and new modes. Word-of-mouth quickly spread that this was something special, helped no end by the images and videos of what players had constructed in their own Minecraft worlds – towering castles, replicas of real-world towns and phallic monuments. There is much more to Minecraft, but the game’s openness to mods is what turned it into a craze – particularly among young children, for whom this is an inexpensive one-time purchase that proves infinitely extendable. The available mods are simply too numerous to cover in any comprehensive fashion but range from simple thematic reworkings such as Tropicraft, which makes the world like a tropical island, to more complex additions like Mo’ Creatures, which adds over forty new types of creatures to the world and allows players to tame and ride certain of them. // 14 PART 3 B US I N ES S MO D E L S INDIE-PENDENCE DAY GAME HISTORY // 15 PREMIUM The premium business model is the concept of offering high end products and services appealing to discriminating consumers. This business model seeks a higher profit margin on a lower sales volume. The player has to pay the full price before he can start playing. The game is sold complete. Advantages - Easy to estimate revenue - It allows you (the player) to give money to the distributor (they showcase the product) Weaknesses - Revenues are concentrated on a very short period - Does not work on rising platforms (Facebook, mobile platforms) // 16 TRY AND BUY The player can download a demo of the game and play. If he/she likes the game he/she can than pay and download the full game. Advantages - Makes the purchasing act easier. - Easy to implement for indie studios. Weaknesses - Poorly adapted for big games. - Could turn off players if the beginning of the game is poorly designed. Most of the games that use this model are from smaller development studios. // 17 SUBSCRIP TI O N The player pays a monthly fee to get unlimited access to the game. Typically, the charge is $15 per month, with quantity discounts offered if the customer pays for three, six, or twelve months in advance. Advantages - Generate a revenue over a long period of time. - Allows the publisher to stay in touch with the players. Weaknesses - Seems to work only for MMO’s. - You spend a lot of time (leveling, farming) vs shooter games (same weapons, same maps) - Cannot resist competition of freemium games. // 18 RESTRI C TE D ACCESS The player has a free access to the game but some features are locked. To access the full game he needs to pay a moderate monthly fee. Advantages - Gets the player to the game - Moderate monthly free - Allows the player to continue playing even after he stops paying Weaknesses - Seems to work only for MMOs - Not adapted to home consoles // 19 EPISOD IC CONTE NT Not unlike a TV show, an episodic game is divided into separate episodes that stand on their own, but are part of a larger concept. The episodes are released over a defined period of time – typically several months – and, compared to the complete game, have only a relatively short duration of play. Advantages - Low price - Generate revenue over a long period By releasing a video game in several instalments, complex games become more accessible. This may attract new user groups such as casual gamers. Weaknesses Does not seem adapted to all game genres (you need an existing franchise) // 20 GAMES ON DEMAND The player pays a monthly fee to access a large game catalog. Advantages - Best bargain for the player - Compatible with the rise of streaming Weaknesses - Can only generate a complementary revenue. // 21 FREEMIUM The game can be played for free but the player can improve his game experience by making purchases inside the game. In economic terms, free-to-play games are freemium games. Additional, or premium, content, is available via so-called micro transactions. One can roughly divide these in-game purchases in two categories that depend on whether additional content is purely aesthetic or has a functional component. In the first case, sometimes referred to as pay-to-entertain, premium content is purely decorative and serves as a way for consumers to individualize the game according to their preferences. In the second case, also termed pay-to-progress or pay-to-win, additional content is functional and allows premium consumers to progress faster in the game, for example, by enhancing the performance of their in-game character. // 22 FREEMIUM Advantages - Free is appealing to players - Moderate development costs - Can generate revenue over a long period - Compatible with both Casual and hardcore gamers Weaknesses - Difficult to retain players - Market is flooded with freemium titles. - Most of the games are actually a clone of an existing and successful freemium title (100 clash of clan clones) - Very difficult to generate a decent revenue. // 23 PAYMIUM The player buys the game full price and can make complementary purchases within the game. Advantages - Makes it possible to sell a premium game at a moderate price and to complement with in-game revenue. - Possibly a growing business model. Weaknesses - Could be rejected by some players. // 24 INDIE-PENDENCE DAY ECONOMICS OF SALES A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value, in economic, social, cultural or other contexts. The process of business model construction is part of business strategy. On a side note, while we've come to expect digital and physical versions of games to cost the same at launch, it remains somewhat bizarre to see physical versions discounted heavily after launch while digital ones maintain their pricing. ECONOMICS OF VIDEO GAME SALES // 25 PART 4 I N D US T RY P R O D UCTI ON INDIE-PENDENCE DAY GAME HISTORY // VIDEO GAME DEVELOPER A company or person that specializes in video game development. - Individual disciplines, such as programming, design, art, testing, etc. - They get financial and usually marketing support from a publisher. - Self-funded developers are known as independent or indie developers. // TYPES OF DEVELOPE R First Party Dev's A first-party developer is part of a company which manufactures a video game console and develops exclusively for it. Second-party Dev's Independently owned studios who take development contracts from the platform holders and what they produce will usually be exclusive to that platform. Studios that are partially or wholly owned by the platform holder (also known as a subsidiary) and what they produce will usually be exclusive to that platform. Third-party Dev's All computer companies that are not classified as first or second party are third party developers. They are mainly independent of the manufacturer of the console, but may be a subsidiary of another company. // INDIE GAME DEVELOPE R Usually made without significant financial support of a video game publisher or other outside source. Driven by digital distribution, the concept of independent video game development has spawned an "indie" movement. Creative Independence: In this case, the developers crafted their game without any oversight or directional influence by a third party such as a publisher. Financial independence: In such situations, the developers have paid for the development and/or publication of the game themselves or from other funding sources such as crowd funding, and specifically without financial support of a large publisher. Publisher independence: In this case, the game is independent whenever the publisher is also the developer. // VIDEO GAME PUBLISHER A company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. Are responsible for their product's manufacturing and marketing, including market research and all aspects of advertising. Most video game publishers maintain development studios such as: Electronic Arts's BioWare, Square Enix's studios, Activision's Radical Entertainment, … Examples: Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft Game Studios, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Bandai Namco Games, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, Konami // VIDEO GAME DISTRIBUTO RS Role: Responsible for the distribution of games. Main challenges: - Physical distributors: to justify their existence - Digital distributors: to grow Winning strategies: - Physical distributor: to diversify their activities - Digital distributors: to foster clients loyalty // HARDWARE MANUFACTURE RS Role: Design, build and market game-dedicated hardware. Main challenges: - The growing weight of alternative game hardware (mobile, set-top box, connected TV) - The rise of new business models - To attract top-notch publishers Winning strategies: - To sell as many machines in order to generate revenue through the sale of games. - To differentiate from competing machines. // MIDDLEWARE PROVIDERS Middleware is computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". Game engine software such as Unreal Engine and Unity are sometimes described as middleware, because they provide many services to simplify game development. Role: To provide the software needed to develop and market games. Main challenges: - To get known and adopted - To build a community around their software (unreal ++) Winning strategies: To provide tools and support that will ease the use of the middleware // 33 REFERENCES / Stanton, R. 2015. A Brief History Of Video Games. / Brinks, M. 2020. Little Book Of Video Games. / Blake J., H. 2015. Console Wars. / Mcgonigal, J. 2012. Reality Is Broken. / Crash Course. Crash Course Games. Digital Arts and Entertainment GAME HISTORY