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

don't forget..

[SwedMiro]

the marketing! I know I will be cursed, booed, spit on and generally carried out on a rail after being dipped in oil and feathers, but i work in marketing. The need for large entities in the business will still be there since marketing costs a lot of money. Sure you can self-publish a game but it will almost certainly drown in the flood of games that are released. A bad game with marketing will almost always outsell a good one with no marketing. The almost part will always be the luck factor.

Re:don't forget..

[SwedMiro]

Even gerilla-marketing is expensive. Adding one market-guy salary to a small developer can break the budget. The margins in games developing is not what most people think. They are small and unless you get a big hit out there you are almost certainly going to be walking the edge for ever.

Re:don't forget..

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

marketing costs a lot of money.

You mistake cause and effect. Marketing costs a lot of money because the large entities (try to) make it necessary.

It's actually in every big media's interest to make marketing as affordable as possible, since they pour multiple billions into marketing each year. Your saying that the interests of Big Advertising can somehow outweigh the interests of Big Movie, Big Music, Big Game, Big just about anything else? Perhaps marketing costs so much because it works so well.

drown in the flood of games that are released.

Drown in the flood of marketing by the large entities, you mean.

Small games can easily slip under the marketing flood. The real problem is that under the marketing flood, there's a flood of flash games, indie games, open source project games, etc, all equally vying for your attention, with no effective method of marketing or spreading via word of mouth. I think the OP meant what he said.

A bad game with marketing will almost always outsell a good one with no marketing.

I'm sure you're right, and that's one of the more severely damaging aspects of copyright. In a free market system with interchangeable goods there's a limit to the value of marketing; make too much and your product becomes too expensive and people buy the competition. In a monopoly system with low product fungibility the limit is simply where lost sales are not lost to competition but to unaffordability, that limit is much higher.

There are two things wrong with that argument. Firstly, there is competition in copyright systems. You can buy (or, in some cases, get legitimately for free) other products from the competitors, but you just can't get an identical product. It just means that if you want that exact work, you have to take the distribution method with it. That's all.

Secondly, see my sig. If you want competition of distribution models over the same artwork, then the creator is not going to get any money, assuming the free market works (which it does in most cases). Consumers will typically go for the cheapest distribution. The artist not making any money, will typically result in him finding something else to spend his time on, something that puts food on his table. He simply can't compete with file-sharers.

You think that lack of competition is bad with copyright, you should see it without copyright.

It's an effect that's noticable in every monopoly protected sector, from pharmaceuticals to music; more money gets spent on marketing than on the actual product.

And what about non-monopoly protected sectors? I'm pretty sure that Coca-Cola spends considerably more on advertising than it does in production, or research into new formulas, etc. It's not a monopoly, yet it still "suffers" from the same problem. It happens with most large businesses, monopoly or not.

Which is rather tragic, as it means we're getting less of what we, as a society, actually want, in exchange for more of what we don't want.

Look, nothing is stopping you from searching from behind the advertising. Advertising doesn't actually make other goods harder to get, it just promotes them into the forefront of what most people will compare when they decide to make a purchase.

I think you're blowing this all way out of proportion. There aren't mind-controlling waves emanating from advertising. If you don't look beyond advertising, it means either you're lazy, you're stupid, or you're happy enough as it is buying from whatever advertisers serve to you. If the first applies to you, it's your own damn fault. If the second applies to you, then getting rid of advertising won't help you. If the third applies to you, then you're not complaining. What's your problem?

Re:Steam?

[Sousuke]

It's better than all the limited availability nonsense the movie industry tends to pull.

Re:Steam?

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

Because they consolidate the industry? You know, steam has been very friendly to indie developers.

Or maybe it's a simple issue with DRM. Oh well, the games are (mostly) cheap, and they can be installed on multiple computers. It's good enough for me.

Re:Steam?

[Savage-Rabbit]

If the gaming industry was like Hollywood, you would have to sleep with some producer, just to get your foot in the door.

Can you really see Hollywood embracing a distribution system that makes it easy for independent studios to reach consumers?

The flaw in that plan is that nobody wants to have sex with computer nerds. Perhaps, in exchange for allowing them to get their foot in the door, the evil game industry executives can demand sex with the nerd's girlfrien...... oh wait... never mind....

Re:Steam?

[Anonymous Coward]

As opposed to buying non-tangible product online without any manuals/booklets/maps/goodies, waiting hours or days for gigabytes of game data to download, slowing down your internet connection during that entire time, not being able to install/play those games without being connected to Steam or if they decide to let their servers become too busy, not being able to lend the game to a friend or take it with you somewhere else, being at the mercy of Valve et al if they decide to deactivate your game and/or account and not being able to play those games should Steam ever shut down or if Valve goes out of business.

Yeah, sounds like a fucking great way to buy a game to me...

Re:Steam?

[Ihmhi]

You can't necessarily make a good movie with a handful of guys and some talent. There are very real expenses involved, including paying or compensating actors.

A game? A guy can sit down and code a game on weekends by himself. Look at Flash games: many of them are more complex than games of the NES era and worlds of fun.

Look at mods like Eternal Silence, Fortress Forever, Dystopia, Insurgency... these are teams of a handful of people (10-50) working on their free time and they put out a quality product.

Re:Wait, really?

[sortius_nod]

Funny how non-gamers seem to run to Hollywood as a comparison for everything.

Honestly, games have been quite varied from the start, many producers and many distributors. The whole "hollywoodisation" of gaming has come in recent years with massive corporate entities like EA, Ubisoft, Rockstar, and the like taking over smaller studios to feed their own agendas.

Yes the game industry is moving toward a Hollywood model, but it's definitely not the one that it's 'always compared'.

Some big differences.

[EWAdams]

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.

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

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

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

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

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

Re:Some big differences.

[VinylRecords]

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

Whoah whoah whoah...I think we all remember when John Romero was going to "make us his bitch!" with Daikatana.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikatana#Controversy

Suck It Down /.

Re:Some big differences.

[jesperhh]

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

One word: Blizzard

Re:Some big differences.

[iamdrscience]

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

Most people don't care which studios make a movie either. Games have stars just the same as movies. Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Lara Croft, etc., they're all stars as well as characters that fall in from other media -- Star Wars comes to mind. Similarly they have behind-the-scenes "stars" as well, instead of well-known directors there are well-known game designers who add a cachet to their productions (Will Wright, Sid Meier, etc.).

Re:Some big differences.

[Team503]

I listen to music, and I play it, thus I am a musician. Also a music geek.

I watch movies. I am NOT a "movie guy" or a "movie afficiando" or a "movie snob."

I work in IT, and thus am a geek. Just browsing the web doesn't make me a geek.

My sister drives a car, but that doesn't make her a gearhead or mechanic. I read car magazines regularly, participate in forums online about cars, and do a bit of work on my own. Thus, I am a gearhead, and she is not.

When I say "gamer", I do not mean just "a person who plays video games." I mean "a person for whom playing video games and participating in the associated subculture is a significant hobby." You know - I play an occasional game, but I am not a gamer. My roommate is a gamer - he subscribes to EGM, reads IGN regularly, and spends hours a day gaming almost every day. He can tell you things like what cool new game is coming out, or what spiffy technology is behind it, or what the cheat codes for GTA4 are off the top of his head.

So, while your polite and well-meaning comment is understood, you're taking it the wrong way. The term gamer isn't used in a derogatory manner, at least that I know of. Human beings categorize things to make them easier to understand. As intelligent (I hope) /.ers, we are aware that each individual is unique and blah blah blah, but we are still going to categorize. It's the way our minds work.

If you don't like the term, try and start a new one. However, it's fitting and apt, thus I think you're out of luck. After all, no matter what you do, "fetch" isn't going to happen.




PS - Listing two games I've played in the last 6 years hardly qualifies as a "bunch." And I pick up on things because I'm not an idiot and I have a gamer for a roommate.

Re:Steam?

[grumbel]

Yes, isn't it dreadful how Steam makes it so easy to buy games?

I can order a game from Amazon.de (Germany), have it at my doorstep the next day and pay 5-10EUR less then buying it on Steam and of course I get a printed manual and a box too. With that given digital distribution doesn't look so great any more.

Re:Steam?

[grumbel]

You can't necessarily make a good movie with a handful of guys and some talent.

Have a look at the recent Half Life short movie or movies like The Man from Earth or Primer, you very definitvly can make a good movie with a tiny budget. The only real disadvantage that a movie seems to have is that you need to have all the crew in the same place at the same time, while a game can be developed by people connected via the internet and can recycle lots of content from the parent game. But of course, a tiny movie budget won't give you the next Star Wars any more then a tiny game budget will give you the next Half Life, that however doesn't mean they can't be good in their own way.

including paying or compensating actors.

That's like saying you can't make a game without compensating the programmers and artists, but you very definitively can, because there are plenty people who do it for the fun of it, not the money.

Mouse Trap.

[Samschnooks]

I like to point out to engineers who have the attitude that if you build a better mouse trap, the World will beat a path to your door, how will the World know about your mousetrap?

Marketing baby!

hers's the problem with this

[DragonTHC]

developers != publishers

publishers are 9 times out of 10 owned by larger media conglomerates.

the few who aren't, have abandoned the art.

Business 101 = consolidation. Game business is

[Anonymous Coward]

the same as any other big business.

Automotive started with 100's of small companies 1890-1910. Soon there was a handful. Then just 'Three', then a global handful. Soon to be a few again.

Game development takes a lot of resources over an extended time to produce content. Somewhere that cash has to be available to fund those resources.

So most games will be produced by large production houses; who will be in constant consolidation.

(On the star-comment, look at the Lara Croft series.. reversed direction of star power.)

But it doesn't need to be this way. The internet, with open source routines, can ruin the consolidation movement. If a lot of small developers re-use open code for most of the heavy lifting (essentially trading or bartering work) then small developers can compete and expand. Look at the music industry too, don't need record labels to publish.

A little cash and a lot of passion and organization has created success with Ubuntu - that has major OEM's pre-installing on hardware now. A different model that seems to be working.
 

Re:Steam?

[Djehuty3]

Not true - you are free to take the game elsewhere, as you are free to install on as many machines as you please.

If you get a new machine, just copy over the STEAM folder and run the .exe - it'll just work, even off a USB stick.

You also do not need to connect to STEAM to play - once it's installed, and you've run it once, you can play it in offline mode from that point on.

Whilst I have heard of people losing their VAC standing, which means they cannot play online on VAC secured servers, the only time I've heard of STEAM locking entire accounts is when a fraudulent purchase is made, or a charge does not process correctly.

and if Valve ever goes out of business, they have already developed and tested a "kill switch" patch for the client, to remove all activation requirements.

Re:Steam?

[Anonymous Coward]

and if Valve ever goes out of business, they have already developed and tested a "kill switch" patch for the client, to remove all activation requirements.

This is an oft-repeated statement with little proof behind it, but lets assume it is true

What I wonder is: will Valve actually be allowed to do this? Sure, they can free their own products (Half Life, etc), but to "unprotect" games from other publishers that are hosted on Steam seems of dubious legality. I have a hard time imagining EA has agreed to such a thing.

Of course, whether a company that is going under will have the resources (or the rights) to free up its own IP is also a major question.

Re:Steam?

[hairyfeet]

Not to mention they can decide at ANY time you are a filthy pirate and demand you pay TWICE and you have NO say or choice in the matter. I know because I was fucked by HL:GOTY edition. Some pirate group put out a keygen that could spit out valid numbers like nobodies business, so what happens to us that actually PAID for the game? That's right, we got fucked by Valve. I even offered to email them a pic of my discs with the days paper behind it so they could see I owned the damned thing but nope, pay again was all I got from their rude ass customer "service" which acted like I was a dirty scumbag for actually buying their product.

Well I learned my lesson. It will be a cold day in hell before I EVER give those bastards a penny. And if it is on Steam? Too bad because I will never use it. All of you with Steam accounts are just one keygen away from losing one of your games or more. Enjoy that sword of Damocles hanging over your head. Now I won't own any game that I can't find a crack for FIRST. That way I DECIDE when and where it works, not some company. When I pay for it it is mine, NOT yours.

Re:Steam?

[Anonymous Coward]

And how would you take it elsewhere? Go through the whole download again? Waste DVDs burning it? With physical media it's easy, just grab it and go.

The same applies to getting a new machine, although I suppose you could copy the files across a local network. What happens if the old machine died? You have to download all of your games all over again. With physical media you can easily install at your leisure.

What if you don't want the game any more and want to sell it? You can't. Again, with physical media this problem doesn't exist.

IIRC, offline mode is only good for a limited amount of time (ie. 30 days). If you don't connect to Steam after that time period, you lose the ability to use offline mode. Also you have to actually be online to activate it (makes a lot of sense, huh?), so if your internet connection goes out or the Steam servers are unreachable, you're SOL. Say goodbye to your games.

Still, people losing their account does happen and people can get locked out at the whim of a single company or employee of the company for any reason, real or bullshit. From their EULA.

13. TERM AND TERMINATION

Either you or Valve has the right to terminate or cancel your Account or a particular Subscription at any time. You understand and agree that the cancellation of your Account or a particular Subscription is your sole right and remedy with respect to any dispute with Valve.

C. Termination by Valve.

1. In the case of a recurring payment Subscription (e.g., a monthly subscription), in the event that Valve terminates or cancels your Account or a particular Subscription for convenience, Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide a prorated refund of any prepaid Subscription fees paid to Valve.
2. In the case of a one-time purchase of a product license (e.g., purchase of a single game) from Valve, Valve may choose to terminate or cancel your Subscription in its entirety or may terminate or cancel only a portion of the Subscription (e.g., access to the software via Steam) and Valve may, but is not obligated to, provide access (for a limited period of time) to the download of a stand-alone version of the software and content associated with such one-time purchase.
3. In the case of a free Subscription, Valve may choose to terminate or amend the terms of the Subscription as provided in the "Amendments to this Agreement" section above.

And how about their region locking? I travel a lot and have sometimes bought games while in other countries. Or what about people who move, do they suddenly lose their entire library of Steam games?

I can't trust a company on just their word that they will unlock games if they go out of business or stop the service. If they go out of business, what incentive do they have to provide anything? If they stop the service OR go out of business, they may not even be able to provide the ability to unlock games if the specific game developer or publisher doesn't permit them to.

B. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

NEITHER VALVE, ITS LICENSORS, NOR THEIR AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STEAM, YOUR ACCOUNT, YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS AND THE STEAM SOFTWARE INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. IN NO EVENT WILL VALVE BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH STEAM, STEAM SOFTWARE, MERCHANDISE THAT YOU ACQUIRE VIA STEAM, ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, OR THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE MERCHANDISE OR ANY INFORMATION, EVEN IN THE EVENT OF FAULT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF CONTRACT, OR BREACH OF VALVE'S WARRANTY AND EVEN IF VALVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBIL

Re:No, you're wrong and just being argumentative.

[Yosho]

Your buddy's 15-year-old game had to be rewritten for the Wii. The director, actors, editors, etc. have to do NOTHING to take a movie to another medium. Yeah, you can use a emulator -- but how many real people, i.e. Wal-Mart shoppers, use emulators?

Just thought I'd point out that, no, it wasn't rewritten. All those games on the Wii's Virtual Console are running in emulators. Do you honestly think they would go through and rewrite every single one of those games, even going so far as to reproduce the original glitches? You can also buy & download games for the original Xbox and Playstation over Xbox Live and the Playstation Network, too. If those Wal-mart shoppers have a current-gen system and have bought downloadable games, then yes, they're using emulators.

Re:Steam?

[nabsltd]

But of course, a tiny movie budget won't give you the next Star Wars any more then a tiny game budget will give you the next Half Life, that however doesn't mean they can't be good in their own way.

I think a group of talented people could easily take the budget for the original Star Wars (about $13 million) and make a much better movie than any of the last three that George Lucas has put out.

Sure, you wouldn't have monster special effects, but you don't need those to make a good movie.

Re:Steam?

[Djehuty3]

I'll concede the region locking point - however, I wonder what would happen if you were to contact Valve, should you move and lose access - I expect you'd have to proof it was your account, though.

If you want to take it elsewhere, just put the applicable folder from steamapps and put it on a USB stick - I have an 8GB USB stick with STEAM installed, Audiosurf installed via STEAM, and the rest is music, and I can take that, plug it into any computer, log in and play. Likewise, I have previously installed L4D and Gmod onto the same USB stick, and both worked flawlessly.

STEAM also allows you to back up entire game packages, be that to USB, DVD, or something more esoteric, merely by rightclicking the game on the list and selecting backup. or, if you prefer, manually backing up the .gcf and .ncf files.

Oh, and note; if you purchase a third party game via STEAM, you get a key. it is very easy to view said key - merely rightclick the game on your game list, and select "View Game Key".

I personally have a great deal of faith and trust in Valve - call me a fanboy if you will. I feel they have created a powerful platform, and that STEAM will only grow in years to come - it and Impulse are the only examples of Digital Distribution done right - no install limits, idiot proof. if you want to complain about something, complain about the goddamned adverts, and the fact that some of the third party files seem to take a lot longer to download.

If you want to complain about third party pricing, keep in mind that Valve don't get an awful lot of say in that.

Re:Steam?

[hairyfeet]

So I should be punished for actually BUYING the full product with the nice box and manual? And folks wonder why piracy is on the rise. How about NOT treating your paying customers as criminals, how about that? It isn't like I was the only guy either. Look up HL:GOTY edition and screwed in Google and you will find countless stories JUST like mine.

Either you refuse to sell the boxed product and go download ONLY(and forget about anyone who doesn't have broadband or who has caps or like me that like a nice box and manual) or actually SUPPORT YOUR DAMNED PRODUCT!!! But screwing a customer who just handed you $50 is NOT the way to do business. I will NEVER buy from Valve again, and I buy lots of games, as I don't care for movies. But between all the Trojan DRM crap that makes a PC as unstable as Win98 and crap like this I'm frankly surprised they have any customers at all. But don't worry, I'm sure some hacker group will eventually find a way to screw Steam and then y'all will get the fun of dealing with their customer disservice. I've dealt with friendlier folks at the DMV.