Behind the scenes of my last console game

[Jacob]

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-133OBuIy4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1&has_verified=1

I think it looks pretty slick. A bunch of those guys are friends of mine.

... though I doubt I'll return to the console industry unless there are some seismic shifts coming.

[The Brain]

The game seems violent. Is any of the violence gratuitous?

[Razgovory]

I thought you were doing facebook type games now.

[Jacob]

Oh yeah, lots of it.

[Jacob]

I thought you were doing facebook type games now.

Mobile actually. I haven't been working on that game since last... September? Something like that. But I did give it a number of years before that, and apparently I'm still getting my credit.

[Razgovory]

What's wrong with the console market?

[Jacob]

All kinds of things, but primarily the following:

It's moved to a serious blockbuster set up. The only games that matter for most publishers are the Call of Duties and the GTAs. Hundreds of millions are being spent on marketing alone, and many hundreds more on development to try hit the big blockbuster to make it all back. Anything else is not worth it, in the eyes of a lot publishers. There are niche publishers who are still trying to make the mid-range, modest success games work for them, but fewer and fewer people are buying them as the blockbusters raise the bar.

That's not to say you can't make money in console games, you can, but as someone making them the situation I outlined has some implications:

1. Because of the budgets involved and the size of the corporations involved, the amount of bullshit, egos and useless people playing political games has been increasing steadily. That makes it a less pleasant environment to work in.

2. Because of the stakes, the odds of projects getting cancelled are higher. You can spend $100 million in development costs (and that's being cheap these days), but the publisher may decide that it's not enough of a contender to be worth spending another $150 million in marketing and can the game when it's basically done. That's a bit discouraging when that represents several years of your work.

3. High stress and long term and/ or extreme overtime is endemic. Some friends just came off finaling a relatively big title. They've been working 16-hour days, 7 days a week for something approaching a year. It's an extreme example - 14 hour days, 6 days/week, for 3 to 6 months is more normal, but it's still too much to be fun.

Separate from that BC stepped off the subsidy arms race, so several console studios were closed in town quite recently and others had significant layoffs. So Vancouver is particularly grim right now if you're a console developer, unless you're willing to relocate or leave consoles.

On top of that, no one is looking to buy console studios right now and there aren't that many projects to be funded either. Mobile and social, however, is chock full of people looking to invest and the big slow players flush with cash are looking to get into the game and use their money to make up for the fact they're slow moving, inflexible and lack knowledge of the space.

[Grey Fox]

I guess GSP has to keep busy while his knee heals.

[Razgovory]

huh.  Thanks Jake.  Sounds like the console market is the road to a crash.  For the first time in years I'm pretty upbeat about PC games.  That kick starter thing impressed me.  It shows me there are enough people who care and are willing to actually spend money.

[Neil]

I feel bad for people developing AAA titles right now.  So many of the are being pushed into a lowest common denominator area these days, and once you get bought by Activision or EA, you might as well start updating your resume.

That said, Facebook and mobile games are even worse, because they're so bad.  At least Steam is making it possible for indy stuff that doesn't suck to be released.

[garbon]

Thanks, Jake, for the thread. Still a shame you didn't have the leather pants on you so we could have hit up that bar all those years past.

[Barrister]

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-133OBuIy4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1&has_verified=1

I think it looks pretty slick. A bunch of those guys are friends of mine.

... though I doubt I'll return to the console industry unless there are some seismic shifts coming.

umm... it takes me to a link for some MMA video.

[katmai]

Beeb fails at reading.

[Jacob]

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-133OBuIy4&feature=youtu.be&hd=1&has_verified=1

I think it looks pretty slick. A bunch of those guys are friends of mine.

... though I doubt I'll return to the console industry unless there are some seismic shifts coming.

umm... it takes me to a link for some MMA video.

Watch it. Maybe even with the volume on.

[Syt]

Jake, I agree with the consoles => blockbuster trend. But from my consumer point of view, at least on XBox, the second pillar for consoles at the moment seem to be indie developers with budget priced games.

But I agree that there doesn't seem to be a healthy "middle class" between them. For PC gamers it's good, of course, because it seems more attention is coming back to this platform instead.