From Well-Off to Rogue

[Lauren Admire]

From Well-Off to Rogue

As some developers are realizing, indie development may be preferable to AAA game development, despite its drawbacks.

Working for an AAA gaming company often means long work hours, deigning to the wants of faceless publishers, and creating games that just aren't your "thing." Indie developers are no strangers to setbacks, either. From having to manage an entire company on your own, to a lack of steady income resulting in massive amounts of debt and releasing obscure titles that never see the light of day, there's a lot about indie development that isn't all too enticing. But some ex-AAA developers are seeing the silver lining. As an indie developer, they are in charge, from start to finish, of the product they create, and for them, that's worth its weight in gold. Cliff Harris, a developer who used to work for Lionhead, has this to say about his new career path:

[blockquote]I'm definitely happier as an indie because I like succeeding or failing on my terms. I can't imagine working for three years on one game again, or being detached from the business side of things. If I needed a fulltime job again, I'd try and get into marketing or some other area of programming, rather than go back to AAA gaming.[/blockquote]

Many a developer have made the transition from big development company to small, indie development and welcomed the trials and tribulations that comes from such a major lifestyle change. Read more about their journey in "Going Rogue [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_161/5113-Going-Rogue]."

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[Nova5]

Huh, never really considered things from this angle. Being involved on a Triple-A title would certainly remove one from the industry and consume a helluva lot more time than I'd be comfortable with.

Though it does make sense; Publishing companies in general (not just in games) have a lot to learn about where to draw the line in screwing with artistic vision vs. profits. Without taking risks (which is what indie developers do for the most part), there is no room for advancement.

 

[Amnestic]

I can't be the only person who clicked on this expecting a Sarah Palin story >_>;

I question the necessity of AAA titles anyway, pricetag wise. Some of my favourite games were made on tiny fractions of the budget for most games these days with no-name voice actors who no one remembers, and I still paid £20-40 for them.

I hold up Plants Vs. Zombies as my Game of the Year (2009). I just keep going back to it.

The piracy issue with 'indie' developers is a large issue. World of Goo had something like a 90% piracy rate? That's just crazy.

I'd like to see more middleground titles, between the good indie games and the good AAA games (and far, far away from the mountain of shovelware)

 

[Twad]

If there is one thing i do for sure, is to pay for the Indie games i play. Most of them are suprisingly good games.

 

[Jared]

If there is one thing i do for sure, is to pay for the Indie games i play. Most of them are suprisingly good games.

Yeah, same here. Because, they get a chance to be who they want to be and make the games they care for, and actually want to create.

Sure, they dont have budgets that will make a game, top of the charts. But, they have the thought patterns of what gamers actually want!

 

[Eric the Orange]

I don't get the point of this thread. It's a thread about an article, which has it's own thread.

 

[Nova5]

I don't get the point of this thread. It's a thread about an article, which has it's own thread.

This is the thread the article links to, dude.

If there is one thing i do for sure, is to pay for the Indie games i play. Most of them are suprisingly good games.

Yeah, same here. Because, they get a chance to be who they want to be and make the games they care for, and actually want to create.

Sure, they dont have budgets that will make a game, top of the charts. But, they have the thought patterns of what gamers actually want!

Totally agree with you - The Killing Floor was the first zombie shooter that played like a zombie shooter should (in my eyes, at least). It was nice to see a dev thinking like a gamer for once. Okay, so it's a UT2k4 mod gone retail, but still indie.

With things like the PSN Store and XBL Arcade, there's more room on all platforms for indie games - I'm hoping this will encourage more developers to try going rogue.

 

[microhive]

Or he could simply start working at Blizzard. Blizzard are like a huge indie company but with huge projects.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I don't get the point of this thread. It's a thread about an article, which has it's own thread.

This is the thread the article links to, dude.

Actually this is,

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.67620

 

[Nova5]

I don't get the point of this thread. It's a thread about an article, which has it's own thread.

This is the thread the article links to, dude.

Actually this is,

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.67620

Weird. I clicked the "Comments" link at the bottom of /news/view/96902-From-Well-Off-to-Rogue]this page. Must've been a forum glitch or something. Either that, or I seriously lost track of my navigation, in which case - my bad.

 

[Eric the Orange]

snip

Ah, I see there is a bit of miscomunication.

OK, this article ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96902-From-Well-Off-to-Rogue )
has this thread ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.161924 ).

But what I was saying is that this article is essentially just a link to a different article that was written in last year
( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_161/5113-Going-Rogue ).
And that that article has already had it's own thread ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.67620 ).
So it feels redundant to give that old article a second thread.

 

[Nova5]

snip

Ah, I see there is a bit of miscomunication.

OK, this article ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96902-From-Well-Off-to-Rogue )
has this thread ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.161924 ).

But what I was saying is that this article is essentially just a link to a different article that was written in last year
( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_161/5113-Going-Rogue ).
And that that article has already had it's own thread ( http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.67620 ).
So it feels redundant to give that old article a second thread.

Oh... Shit, definitely my bad. You were totally right, quite redundant. Wonder what prompted it...