Indie Game Developers Navigate Risk in a Competitive Market
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Indie Game Developers Navigate Risk in a Competitive Market A Sociotechnical Research Paper presented to the faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Virginia by Jeffrey Wang April 8, 2021 On my honor as a University student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this assignment as defined by the Honor Guidelines for Thesis-Related Assignments. Jeffrey Wang Sociotechnical advisor: Peter Norton, Department of Engineering and Society Indie Game Developers Navigate Risk in a Competitive Market Introduction Video games are a massive entertainment industry. In 2017, the U.S. game industry directly employed over 65k employees, and added $11.7 billion to the U.S. GDP (Siwek, 2017). As one of the biggest modern pastimes, video games are also a significant cultural expression of our time. There are many kinds of people who make games, or game developers. In the mainstream industry, game studios are paid by publishers to develop a game in exchange for a cut of the profit. Because publisher provide initial funds, and are often more experienced than the studios, the direction of the game is often heavily influenced by the publisher. Typically, the game studio makes game software, while the publisher handles distribution and marketing. Starting in 2007, the bar to make video games was lowered with the release of low-cost game engines and online marketplaces (Huskie, 2016). This heralded an explosion of indie games – games created by independent developers with little artistic involvement from publishers or no publishers at all. Due to their funding and skill constraints, these games tend to employ lo-fi aesthetics and challenge the mainstream gaming industry in game design and in thematic ideas (Fiadotau, 2018). Over time, indie games grew as a phenomenon and the definition of ‘indie’ began to shift. Many larger studios have begun to adopt “indie sensibilities” by focusing on the aesthetic and gameplay features typical of indies, and many publishers, both from the traditional industry and new “indie publishers,” now provide funding and support for indie games. There is still no formal definition of indie. For the purposes of this paper, any game maker not working with a mid-size or major publisher (i.e. part of the AAA industry) are indie developers, but it is important to note that many diverse groups of developers with varying backgrounds, budgets, and commitments are included in this blanket label. 1 Although today’s indie game scene is rife with activity, indie games are risky projects for the developers involved. Most indie games fail to produce profits, with some estimates being less than 1 in 5. So why are so many produced? What are the developers’ aspirations, expectations, and what experiences do they have? How do they react to a hostile market and the possibility of failure? It might seem baffling that so many people spend their aspirations with such little chance of success. Many game developers feel that the prospect of success is so low, they limit their game development to being a creative hobby while keeping a stable full-time job in other fields. Through analysis of their discussions, we can observe the factors that cause some developers to take this approach to game development. In the modern video games industry, indie developers struggle to make a living in a highly competitive market. Hopes and pessimism about success fight each other in the minds of developers, creating a spectrum of developers from those who take on an entrepreneurial mindset to those who take a hobbyist approach to game making. When these groups share the same spaces, their different perceptions and attitudes can cause conflict, but these independent developers are all striving to find personal success in game development. Review of Research The hobbyist game maker is one of the kinds of developer included under the indie label. Hobbyist game makers, or amateur game makers, are distinct from the typical independent game maker in that they take an explicit non-entrepreneurial approach to game making. Many of these game makers are motivated to become hobbyists in order to avoid exploitative aspects of professional game development (Keogh, 2021). This paper aims to understand how the 2 perception of financial success in the video game industry helps the spread of this hobbyist mindset. Another reason why many game makers may avoid the mainstream games industry is a desire for autonomy. Game workers are creative workers, but in the professional industry they are often treated as production workers not expected to exercise independent judgement or make creative contributions (Schumacher, 2007). In order to avoid this treatment, many kinds of indie developers aim to fulfill their goals on their own. A common goal for video game developers is to reach sustainability. This applies to developers of all sizes, both in the AAA industry and outside. For indie developers in the Australian games industry, sustainability is defined differently for different developers. Some aim for commercial success, while others wish to continue their work as a craft and hobbyist undertaking (Banks & Keogh, 2021). It is important to understand the wishes for sustainability for all kinds of people who identify as game makers – including hobbyist game makers, beginning indie developers, failed indie developers, and successful indie developers. When performing analysis on creative works, many researchers use high theory in place of detailed empirical accounts of creative labor (Thompson et al., 2016). For example, a study on the productivity of creative workers across a variety of fields found that the majority of creative contributions are made by a minority of the contributors (Wayne, 1955), but without empirical accounts it is difficult to apply this knowledge to the games industry. This paper focuses on empirical accounts from game makers in order to understand the state of the games industry. For many independent game makers, work is sporadic and may feature concurrent roles, which puts them in a vulnerable position that is commonly overlooked in official data collections of creative workers (Hennekam & Bennet, 2016). By analyzing the conversations of people in 3 game development spaces online, it is possible to gain more insight on this class of game devleoper. The Allure and The Reality Stories about indie games are inspirational. Cave Story (2004), produced over five years by a single developer in his free time, proved that a single person could leave his mark on the industry. The 3D sandbox Minecraft, a project started by one person released in 2011, went on to become the best-selling video game of all time. These are stories about underdogs proving their worth – and making a lot of money in the process. Stories about success make it further than stories about failures, and media tends to depict indie development with a rosy light. Sean Han Tani, maker of Anodyne 2, was one of the people drawn in by success stories in 2013. Flash game sponsorships, online storefront sales, and Indie Game: The Movie all perpetuated a “gold rush myth” about the indie developer life (Gordon, 2019). These myths attract people looking to make it big – telling them ‘you can make it big, too,’ even to complete newcomers in the industry. These starry-eyed developers confront a much bleaker reality. In an answer written to a Quora forum, Jason Huskie, a 6 year game developer and business and marketing consultant, estimates that less than 1% of developers make profits off their first game. Other estimates on the same forum range between that and 20%. The result is that many developers enter the industry as an indie dev without a safety net and are unprepared for the financial risk in store. As Jason Roberts, maker of Gorogoa recalls, “I was able to save a few years’ worth of living expenses. I spent all of that plus all of my retirement savings… I don’t think I made good decisions. After I ran out of money, I got some more from Indie Fund, and I got some personal loans from friends 4 and family, and then finally got picked up by Annapurna [a publisher]” (Gordon, 2019). Gorogoa released in 2017 and turned profitable, but a disaster was always looming for Roberts. Even with years of savings, he had to hop between funding sources, take on debt, and risk his own future to complete his game. Sean Han Tani, maker of Anodyne 2, is another example of someone who took on financial risk to complete their game. Unlike Roberts, Tani had a safety net provided by his family. He reflects that “My living, savings, and retirement costs have always been covered by game sales… [our studio] is safe for a few years.” (Gordon, 2019) Tani believes that the risk he took was worth it, but in order to sustain his studio, he still needs to carefully manage risk. In the video game industry, like other creative industries before it, financial risk is a constant concern that developers struggle against to achieve their goals. Indie developers struggle not only with financial risk, but also in striking a healthy work- life balance. Professional game developers often take long work hours to meet deadlines, and this phenomenon also commonly manifests in indie games. In a postmortem on Super Meat Boy, the team reflected on their two-month crunch time during which the lead developers slogged through 10-12 hours of work every day. They consider this crunch their biggest mistake in the game’s development, because the rushed release was ultimately unnecessary for the game’s success (McMillen, 2011). Indie developers are often pressured to crunch for the same reasons that their industry counterparts do, whether it be due to passion, culture, or necessity.