Intro:
As far back as the 1980s, children have grown up with some form of video gaming. Its popularity has only increased as time has passed. Due to this, a plethora of advancements have been made in the gaming industry: the introduction of PC and mobile gaming, a larger genre pool, and the competitive job market of Game Design. In the past five years, a gaming community has begun revolutionizing the game-creation process. The Indie Community has discarded traditional corporate game-creation and while doing so have raised the question: to what extent has the Indie Community changed the gaming industry?
Body Paragraph-History of the industry:
Before the Indie Community reached the level of popularity it has in the modern day, the gaming industry was predictable in what games would receive the most purchases and highest ratings: games created by, or supported by big corporate entities such as Atari, Nintendo, Sony, and SEGA. Naturally, these companies would fluctuate and evolve, changing names and going bankrupt, or finding unparalleled success in the field; however, their role remained the same. When examining the decade of the 1980s as a whole, nine games out of the top ten best selling video games were created by Nintendo (bethelks). This trend continues in the 1990s with one exception- Nintendo holds eight spots total and another corporation, Square Enix, takes the tenth spot on the list (bethelks). Still, the end result is the same- large companies monopolized the gaming industry. This does not discredit their work, as they found success for a reason, but it does account for the lack of ingenuity, of new ideas. Games had reached a point where it was almost formulaic. All companies had to do was insert a well-known, well-loved figure into the game and brand loyalty insured an instant hit with consumers. Most popular video games had been part of a franchise: Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy were some of the best selling series. The rise of the Indie Community allowed for new concepts, stories, and skills to be told and tested by video games.
Body Paragraph-Rise of Indie, how it changed the games being sold:
The rush of originality by Indie Community creators in the later 2000s was received positively by consumers. People were excited with the new characters and plots to interact with. Moreover, games created by those in the Indie Community had a focus on providing players with an experience (digtrends). Independent creators were not restricted by the needs and wants of fans, and the lack of a fanbase meant the game created must be unique. Companies such as AAA could not risk the resources and time a truly original game required, and the shield of a fanbase promoted a stagnant creative process (digtrends). The Indie Community motivated these corporations to improve, and brought the gaming industry out of its’ drought of originality.
This creative drive took the form of revolutionizing gameplay and the emotional impact on players. Indie creators lacked the resources and money large corporations used to create games with state of the art graphics and programming. In order to compensate, creators thought up ingenious ways to change how players perceived gaming. A prime example is Undertale, a video game made by Toby Fox released during September of 2015, which recreated the RPG genre. He introduced the idea of sparing enemies, of having a pacifist route in a genre defined by “beat the boss” game design. This concept touched players of all ages, inspiring the industry to take more risks. Ubisoft announced at E3, a gaming convention where companies share their upcoming products, that a tactical game Skulls and Bones was in development and the aim was to release it by 2020 (screenrant). The company has not taken risks this large in years, depending on popular series Far Cry and Assassin's Creed to carry the company.
https://bethelks.libguides.com/c.php?g=249513&p=1662279
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/best-indie-games/
References
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