In response to this. DICE is a great developer but they have Electronic Arts backing them up (unlimited money, sort of) and it’s going to be interesting now that EA is shifting from AAA to F2P or small scale games.
To me game audio is dependent from game development which is dependent from game business. Game audio is a mess because game development is a mess because game business is a mess. I needed to understand the balance of power and how ultimately this impact my field.
In order to focus on quality innovation and fun on games (which is pure R&D), you kind of need an unlimited supply of money and time which are very hard to obtain, as you know.
So if you try to fund your game from your previous games, you want them to make money, in a sustainable way if possible.
If it happens, then game development goes right and game audio is happening in the best setting possible which is the one you want, otherwise: project cancelled, called at the last minute, miserable audio budget… The list goes on.
Busimech
Business is crucial. What people need to understand is that the computer game business always has been complicated (that is, borderline unprofitable) because as Marc Cerny says in his talk the only constant in our field is change. These days game developers are all jumping in the AAA VS Indie/F2P wagon but it’s not a matter of who’s right, it’s a matter of what’s going on, how people use their digital devices and what is going on behind the scene. It’s the other end of our development/design spectrum.
For example, some people might think that the iPhone5 and iPad4 will continue to guarantee a stream of revenue on the iOS side, getting even bigger even. But you have to understand that:
- Carriers don’t want to be Apple’s bitch ever again. They are the ones paying iPhones full price, they are the ones selling data plans and trying to keep customers on their services. They don’t need to push people on data plans anymore.
- Of course competition is more than heating up, it’s coming from everywhere (MS, Amazon, Google) and carriers will use that leverage.
So on iOS the success window is going to be even more narrow. Which means cross-platform dev tools as much as possible (diversify your bonds, nigga).
Another example concerning game audio: F2P == retaining players from day one and as long as possible == BIG AUDIO AND SHIT. But if you’re a small team, you should probably not go the F2P road (you work two years with a friend, you’re broke as hell you don’t make a F2P game because it’s trendy, WTF?). At least in the West, in Asia it’s another story.
The hundreds of millions of handheld consoles sold is a thing of the past and because Nintendo/Sony still don’t match game development easiness and cheapness we have with mobile phones and tablets, I would not go this way (get away from exclusive deals, no game is going to make me buy a $250 game device anymore).
Business is complicated, it is crucial and everything is possible. If we want to be able to push on quality, innovation and fun and because it’s so tied up to development variables, we need to get business right and control it.