Posted June 27, 2012
Waltorious: By the way, I'm basing this largely on some interesting interviews I read with the head of Larian studios about how they made the shift from working with publishers to self-publishing. His comments about the relationship with publishers were very interesting, and different from the usual "publishers are bad" stance... rather it was more that publishers are set up to make big-budget titles that must sell really well, and they don't really work for smaller-budget titles with a more niche appeal.
Well, he just said it in nicer terms - if the game won´t produce millions of money (insert your favorite currency here), producers won´t back it. And that WAS the problem - middle sized projects didn´t had a chance. Wasteland 2 was a utopistic dream, ( I suppose you saw a Kickstarter Pitching video - "such a niche middle-sized dedicated fanbase - who would like to make game for them?"), until TIm Schafer didn´t prove them wrong with his Kickstarter - that Adventure fans are still here and they want something, which they (producers) considered disadvantageous business.
I, personally, am thankful for Kickstarter revolution, because it shifts powers (Thanks to Brian Fargo´s Kicking it forward attempt) back into the hands of developers - and market (end-user guys). And even Fargo said in one interview that there surely will be some failed products (Game getting funded by Kickstarter, then, along the way, money runs out in 60-70 percent of completness of the product with no way to finish it.) - that´s why he still have some spare money, just for sure.
So, yeah, it´s not salvation for everyone, but it still varies the market.
Post edited June 27, 2012 by Tarhiel