Debate - Against
When the future of Publishing is mentioned, self-publishing is one of the main things to arise. This is still the case when the genre of games publishing and developers is considered. In the 1990s, some gaming companies for example Epic – the company who created the best-selling games series ‘Unreal’ (Epic Games, 2014) originally had to go down the traditional publishing route to ensure they could reach a larger audience in budget. Now, due to the rise of digital publishing all the pieces are there for companies or games developers themselves to self-publish their content (Nutt C, 2013). “If you can develop your own game, you can market and distribute it, too” (Takahashi D, 2013) this makes the process seem like an easy step without giving the consequences of games developers trying to sell and distribute games whilst creating a brand to an audience, all without a publisher.
Does this mean that the gaming industry no longer needs publishers? No: unfortunately for developers self-publishing games is no easier than self-publishing a book. Competition is still vicious and with anyone being able to self-publish, anyone does. And, although this can seem like a good outcome, due to the support and recognition Indie games gained in the 2013 Bafta game awards (Stuart K, 2013) the funding is still an issue where publishers can aim to help.
Covering publishing costs as well as studios and the development of a game is just one aspect that having a publisher can help you as a developer with. (Everiss B, 2009). It is all well and good encouraging the mass “you have to be able to figure out how to publish yourself” (Takahashi D, 2013) but without presenting a realistic outlook on what you would have to undertake as part of the publishing role basically gives games developers false hope for ‘easy success’. Aspects within the role have to be taken into account - these include the great relationships publishers typically have with console manufactures. As a self-publishing game developer you would have to ensure you collect information including guidelines of console companies as well as who to contact early on, although this stress is how having a publishing partner throughout publication is seen as a major perk (Watsham J, 2013) as liaising with external parties without a publisher will fall to the developer “who may or may not have the bandwidth to handle it” (Nutt C, 2013). This gives an insight into the worries that could emerge from a developer not having a publisher to hand and also how much they would have to handle themselves. Some online resources tend to list an un-biased view on how both developers and publishers can work together (Nutt C, 2013). Some platforms have actually disallowed developers to self-publish their work (Yoon A, 2013). Xbox Live Arcade has had the amount of games that appear on the console limited. Along with this came a regulation that developers must have a publishing deal else they are exempt from the policy. Although this is only for now and, the company is aware of the digital changes, this goes to show the impact having a known publisher can create on a potential console company.
A word of caution is that it always depends how serious and passionate your publisher is about your work – there will always be positive and negative relationships within the industry. Although the option is there for self-publishing games developers to go down this route and be successful. When it comes to listing the positive and negatives of working with or without a publisher and taking everything into consideration – including marketing, brand awareness, costs and industry knowledge. As a games developer it is not easy to take on the role: “of course, not all of their problems would necessarily be solved by working with publishers – but some might” (Nutt C, 2013). These points grasp the importance of having a publisher during the publication of games.
659 words
References
Brightman, J. (2012). Mobile Gaming: "The Relationship Between Developer and Publisher Has Changed Forever". Available: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-10-mobile-gaming-the-relationship-between-developer-and-publisher-has-changed-forever. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Butts, S. (2011). Gamers vs Developers vs Publishers. Available: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/editors_note/8611-Gamers-vs-Developers-vs-Publishers. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Epic Games. (2014). About Us. Available: http://epicgames.com/about. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Everiss, B. (2009). What do game publishers do and is there any need for them?. Available: http://www.bruceongames.com/2009/09/04/what-do-game-publishers-do-and-is-there-any-need-for-them/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Long, V. (2013). Here’s what the future of video game development looks like. Available: http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/20/heres-what-the-future-of-video-game-development-looks-like/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Nutt, C. (2013). How digital publishing is shaping the future of the game industry. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/201286/How_digital_publishing_is_shaping_the_future_of_the_game_industry.php. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Piesing, M. (2014). “It’s Collaborative Now,” says Egmont UK of Game Development. Available: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/05/its-collaborative-now-says-egmont-uk-of-game-development/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Piesing, M. (2014). How Writers Can Work with Games Developers.Available: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/04/how-writers-can-work-with-games-developers/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Stuart, K. (2013). Developers vs the industry: 15 ideas about the future of games. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/mar/28/bafta-roundtable-the-future-of-games. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Takahashi, D. (2013). Game publisher tells developers why they don’t need publishers. Available: http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/30/game-publisher-tells-developers-why-they-dont-need-publishers/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Yoon, A. (2013). Xbox One won't allow indies to self-publish games.Available: http://www.shacknews.com/article/79309/xbox-one-wont-allow-indies-to-self-publish-games. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
When the future of Publishing is mentioned, self-publishing is one of the main things to arise. This is still the case when the genre of games publishing and developers is considered. In the 1990s, some gaming companies for example Epic – the company who created the best-selling games series ‘Unreal’ (Epic Games, 2014) originally had to go down the traditional publishing route to ensure they could reach a larger audience in budget. Now, due to the rise of digital publishing all the pieces are there for companies or games developers themselves to self-publish their content (Nutt C, 2013). “If you can develop your own game, you can market and distribute it, too” (Takahashi D, 2013) this makes the process seem like an easy step without giving the consequences of games developers trying to sell and distribute games whilst creating a brand to an audience, all without a publisher.
Does this mean that the gaming industry no longer needs publishers? No: unfortunately for developers self-publishing games is no easier than self-publishing a book. Competition is still vicious and with anyone being able to self-publish, anyone does. And, although this can seem like a good outcome, due to the support and recognition Indie games gained in the 2013 Bafta game awards (Stuart K, 2013) the funding is still an issue where publishers can aim to help.
Covering publishing costs as well as studios and the development of a game is just one aspect that having a publisher can help you as a developer with. (Everiss B, 2009). It is all well and good encouraging the mass “you have to be able to figure out how to publish yourself” (Takahashi D, 2013) but without presenting a realistic outlook on what you would have to undertake as part of the publishing role basically gives games developers false hope for ‘easy success’. Aspects within the role have to be taken into account - these include the great relationships publishers typically have with console manufactures. As a self-publishing game developer you would have to ensure you collect information including guidelines of console companies as well as who to contact early on, although this stress is how having a publishing partner throughout publication is seen as a major perk (Watsham J, 2013) as liaising with external parties without a publisher will fall to the developer “who may or may not have the bandwidth to handle it” (Nutt C, 2013). This gives an insight into the worries that could emerge from a developer not having a publisher to hand and also how much they would have to handle themselves. Some online resources tend to list an un-biased view on how both developers and publishers can work together (Nutt C, 2013). Some platforms have actually disallowed developers to self-publish their work (Yoon A, 2013). Xbox Live Arcade has had the amount of games that appear on the console limited. Along with this came a regulation that developers must have a publishing deal else they are exempt from the policy. Although this is only for now and, the company is aware of the digital changes, this goes to show the impact having a known publisher can create on a potential console company.
A word of caution is that it always depends how serious and passionate your publisher is about your work – there will always be positive and negative relationships within the industry. Although the option is there for self-publishing games developers to go down this route and be successful. When it comes to listing the positive and negatives of working with or without a publisher and taking everything into consideration – including marketing, brand awareness, costs and industry knowledge. As a games developer it is not easy to take on the role: “of course, not all of their problems would necessarily be solved by working with publishers – but some might” (Nutt C, 2013). These points grasp the importance of having a publisher during the publication of games.
659 words
References
Brightman, J. (2012). Mobile Gaming: "The Relationship Between Developer and Publisher Has Changed Forever". Available: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-10-mobile-gaming-the-relationship-between-developer-and-publisher-has-changed-forever. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Butts, S. (2011). Gamers vs Developers vs Publishers. Available: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/editors_note/8611-Gamers-vs-Developers-vs-Publishers. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Epic Games. (2014). About Us. Available: http://epicgames.com/about. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Everiss, B. (2009). What do game publishers do and is there any need for them?. Available: http://www.bruceongames.com/2009/09/04/what-do-game-publishers-do-and-is-there-any-need-for-them/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Long, V. (2013). Here’s what the future of video game development looks like. Available: http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/20/heres-what-the-future-of-video-game-development-looks-like/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Nutt, C. (2013). How digital publishing is shaping the future of the game industry. Available: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/201286/How_digital_publishing_is_shaping_the_future_of_the_game_industry.php. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Piesing, M. (2014). “It’s Collaborative Now,” says Egmont UK of Game Development. Available: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/05/its-collaborative-now-says-egmont-uk-of-game-development/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Piesing, M. (2014). How Writers Can Work with Games Developers.Available: http://publishingperspectives.com/2014/04/how-writers-can-work-with-games-developers/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Stuart, K. (2013). Developers vs the industry: 15 ideas about the future of games. Available: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2013/mar/28/bafta-roundtable-the-future-of-games. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Takahashi, D. (2013). Game publisher tells developers why they don’t need publishers. Available: http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/30/game-publisher-tells-developers-why-they-dont-need-publishers/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.
Yoon, A. (2013). Xbox One won't allow indies to self-publish games.Available: http://www.shacknews.com/article/79309/xbox-one-wont-allow-indies-to-self-publish-games. Last accessed 29th Nov 2014.