As we stand here today on the cusp of the next generation of
video gaming, the possibilities afforded us by shiny new hardware seem virtually limitless. As gamers, we
constantly expect, nay, demand prettier visuals, more interactive surroundings, smarter AI, more
immersive gameplay, bigger environments, and better storylines, all of which translate into an ever-costlier
development process. Past estimates place the costs of developing a next-gen game above $10 million, and those are
only conservative assessments. And, as has been stated numerous times in the past, as the costs of game
development go up, studios become less and less willing to take chances on unique concepts and new intellectual
properties. Publishing giants such as EA and Microsoft may be able to burn 10 million bucks on exploring new ideas
(though there's no guarantee that they will), but to small developers, to whom a single failed game could mean
life or death, the risk of developing something fresh and exciting may well outweigh the rewards. Remember, a game
may be good, but that's no guarantee that it'll sell; for every Katamari Damacy, there's a critically
acclaimed yet commercially panned Beyond Good & Evil.
How will the little guys survive in this upcoming generation, if they survive at all? Keep in mind that without small publishers, gems such as Alien Hominid may have never made the leap from Newgrounds to our living rooms. Will smaller publishers gradually fade out as the console generations progress? Or will they merely be assimilated by the likes of Electronic Arts? And just how high will development costs climb before publishers can no longer afford to push the envelope on innovation?
[Via FiringSquad]
