Game Developers Becoming Similar To Hollywood Studios?

CNet is running an article that looks at the growing parallels between the major movie studios and some of the most successful game publishers, which have gradually turned into the juggernauts of the industry as they've absorbed a variety of smaller developers in recent years. "If we consider Hollywood — the model to which the video game industry is always compared — it doesn't take long before we realize that it's dominated by a handful of studios that effectively control a large percentage of the industry, while the independent studios are left trying to defy the percentages and get their innovative and artistic films to the masses. Since most fail, it's the big studios that enjoy profits as the independents try to find some way to stay alive." Gamasutra has a related piece suggesting the opposite trend: "Smaller, less expensive games made by smaller, more agile teams seem like a very logical step, now that the industry structure is better able to support it, with no less than three venues on which to distribute content as a small team. These are downloadable console, direct to consumer PC downloads via Steam-like services, portals, or direct sale, and iPhone and potentially DSi downloads."

Comments

Re:Some big differences.

[drinkypoo]

Hollywood can sell the same content six times (cinema, pay-per-view, pay cable, free cable, terrestrial broadcast, DVD -- not to mention airline sales, overseas licensing, etc.). Videogames only run on the machine(s) they're made for.

Counterexample: Game ports

Movies can continue to be shown for decades. With a tiny number of exceptions, a game is dead meat within a year.

Counterexample: Classic downloadable, purchasable games on Wii on Xbox 360. Also, games sell for much more than movies, another rebuttal to your objection.

Movies have star power. The general public doesn't care who made the game.

Counterexample: Romero, Carmack. Over 70% of the US public plays video games now. This is thus changing.

Filmmaking is very nearly turnkey if it doesn't require special effects. Every game is a unique piece of software engineering.

Counterexample: Movies are made. Often a game uses the same engine as a previous game (MANY examples, too many to list) and thus only content need be authored. Many games have no acting whatsoever.

A big film is 3 hours tops. A big game is 40-50 hours. That's a lot more content.

Counterexample: repetitious hallways in Halo

The economics of the two are very different, and the production models can never be the same.

The economics of many things which have similar production models are very different.

You are just typing to see yourself do it. Too bad you're all wrong.