Peter Molyneux Asks For Gov't Help For Small Shops

spot35 writes "Maybe the gaming industry isn't as healthy as I thought. Peter Moluneux has gone on record stating that creating a successful video game is too expensive for the smaller developers. According to this BBC article he suggests that the government helps the smaller developers to keep them afloat. This other article gives a very brief profile of the man."

Comments

Putting his money where his mouth is

[e.a.kendrick]

In fact, Peter Molyneux actually has initiatives to keep the bedroom coder alive. Admittedly he's supporting Jeff Minter which is a pretty safe bet (check out the the "unity" mention on the lionhead site)

More of the same, that's what I say!

Example of a Small, Successful Development Group

[brulman]

I don't buy his arguments. There are small game shops thriving in the marketplace. The best example i can give is the guys at

www.battlefront.com

They've produced two games, Combat Mission and Combat Mission 2 that are considered by most afficianados as the best strategic war games ever made. They sell only over the internet, develop for Apple and PC simultaneously, and managed to sell out their first printing of the recent Combat Mission 2. There is still a place for the small guy. Great game by the way, I highly recommend it for those disatisfied with the standard RTS fare.

Re:Sorry Peter...

[iocat]

I work at a small videogame company. The business climate out there is really, really tough. But at the same time, I don't think it's impossible to succeed. The problem is just that the market is really unforgiving. Making any kind of common rookie business mistake -- from bad management, to stupid financial decisions, to slipping your game, whatever -- will kill your company. But there aren't that many companies that do everything right, and fail anyway.

Luckily, the capital it takes to start a game company and do a demo is relatively minor, even today, which is why you see so many new companies and dev. shops set up, even as others are closing down. It's brutal, but I don't think government subsidies will do anything but prolong the inevitable.

To run a successful videogame company, you have to know how to successfully run a company -- that's actually more important than anything else today. I know for a fact my company would not be around today, ten years after it started, if we didn't have a president who was a hardcore business guy (who luckily trusts the rest of us to know what we're doing on the game side).