For almost two years, Xbox maker Microsoft has been attempting to acquire Activision Blizzard, which produces World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and other massive franchises. At first the proposed $69 billion merger sparked monopoly concerns from U.S. and European regulators, but after legal proceedings and international lobbying, the deal appears all but sealed.
Microsoft had to make big concessions, such as letting Sony’s PlayStation have Call of Duty for 10 more years and selling off other streaming rights. But independent game developers, an oft-overlooked segment of the small business world — approximately 45,000 of which sell titles on distribution service Steam — are asking: Is that enough?
“The game landscape has gotten increasingly focused on the higher end,” Brandon Sheffield, creative director at Necrosoft Games (currently developing Demonschool), tells b. “When the top 10 video games on your storefront earn enough money to fund your whole operation, there’s not a lot of incentive to look outside of that.”
The shift from a single-purchase model to a subscription model like Xbox’s popular Game Pass, in which games of varying budgets are bundled together (the difference between, say, a Blu-ray purchase and a Netflix account), is also a point of concern among indies. As musicians have found with Spotify and other streaming apps, it’s easier than ever to get discovered by audiences but more difficult than ever to make a living afterward.
“The future of indie game development looks a lot like what you see everywhere else: consolidation … and subscriptions represent where the industry is going, because that’s where the money is,” Sheffield says. “So for now we indie devs will be begging for scraps at the table. … The difference between now and the Wild West days of indie development 15 years ago is I’m not sure we’re going to exit this phase into a new one.”
Dave Proctor, founder and director of indie game studio Mighty Yell — whose game The Big Con is currently on Game Pass — points out that subscription services might actually make gamers more likely to check out those smaller offerings, but agrees, “It’s hard to be excited about more consolidation. Honestly, I hope the FTC refiles because competition and separation at this level keeps people innovating… I do not cheer on a future where there’s kinda one huge company that does everything.”
While regulatory decisions are out of indie developers’ control, Proctor urges gamers to explore offerings from indies. “Tell your friends about them,” he says. “Recognize that they are smaller by nature and don’t be upset if they don’t take you 80 hours to beat. … Consolidated bigger offerings are going to seem attractive always but remember that there’s an indie that’s trying to innovate that is worth your time and your love.”
Read our full Q&A with Brandon Sheffield and Dave Proctor on the state of indie gaming.
