As the years go by, the gaming industry seems to be increasingly plagued by endless sequels and unoriginal ideas. Fallout 3. Far cry 2. Warhammer Online. Don’t get me wrong, I am also looking forward to those games. However, when was the last time Blizzard released a game based on new intellectual property? Starcraft. Ten years ago! Come on! Talk about milking a cash cow! At least two-thirds of the major releases are sequels. Is creativity really so hard to come by? When was the last time a major hit was based on a new IP? Are developers really so scared of uncharted territory? How many games can you think of that are completely stand alone, without being part of a series?
Any industry, so dependent on intellectual property has to put up with some degree of mimicry. It is unavoidable and sometimes it can even have a positive effect. In an effort to constantly improve one’s product and push the current industry boundaries, ideas can build upon one another and lead to surprising excellent results for the customers. There is something to say about perfecting a certain genre or type of gameplay. I firmly stand beside these efforts but I don’t think we are in any danger of being overwhelmed with perfect games by any means.
One of the reasons for this lack of originality is: it’s easy. It’s easy to play it safe. With publishers bearing down and deadlines closing in, the all-powerful dollar sign begins to take hold. It is more expensive to develop an original IP and more time consuming. Publishers like to play it safe. They would much rather support a project borne of a proven money-maker. Why not, it’s the easy thing to do? Less risk and the more reward, that’s their goal. Yet, it might not be all the developers’ fault. Yes, small developers can’t help but fall to the whims of the powerful publishers but let’s look at an example of an established, successful development house. Blizzard is by far the most successful developer in PC games recent history. You might say, well what about The Sims and yes Will Wright’s franchise is still currently blowing Blizzard away (pun intended) but what’s impressive is the constant influx of cash WoW is continuing to bring in. Anyway, my point is: a developer in Blizzard’s position can’t be pushed around by publishers and within reason can make whatever games they want. Then why don’t they? Well it’s easier and more profitable. Honestly, Blizzard could probably box up some dead pig’s feet and it would be a best seller because fanatical fans believe that they can’t make a bad game. That’s another story though.
Not only are developers content with rehashing the same old story, setting, gameplay, mechanics etc. They have no problem staying within their safe, well-defined genre boundaries. Yes, there are some cross-functional elements that come in to play but these are hardly mind bending. They rave of RPG elements in a FPS with two-bit character creation and in an RTS with character level advancement. When was the last time a game really blew your mind and pushed the limits?
Since we have been exemplifying WoW, why change? When WoW first came on the scene it was heralded as the next best thing since sliced bread, and for ten million people it looks like it delivered. But what made WoW different to begin with, why was it so much better than its competitors and what made it so successful? Well, this is simpler than you might think. They made the game less challenging, more forgiving, less complicated and more accessible to a wider audience. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is brilliant from a business perspective but what about from a gamer’s perspective? What about someone who wants something more, something new? Well that is hard to come by these days.
A quick glance at EBgame’s homepage reveals these eight games headlining: SOCOM: Confrontation, Mercenaries 2, Force Unleashed, Spore, WoW: Wrath of the Witchking, Fallout 3, Red Alert 3, and Fable 2. So, let’s see, that leave’s one original and it’s surprising that there is even one.
Now, some might say that the reason for this stagnation of ideas is actually the result of a mature industry. One in which, new ideas are hard to come by for the sole reason that there are a limited number of ideas possible and the industry has already been saturated by most of them. Over a very long time, this might have some effect on the creative industry as a whole but this in no way is the primary reason of unoriginality. Proof lies in the minds of gamers everywhere. Every other gamer has an idea for a game they would love to make if they ever got the chance. The problem is that none of these ideas will ever see light. Why? The current trend of consolidation in the industry is creating an increasingly detrimental barrier to entry for independent and budding developers. The ones that actually make it to the design phase are still at the mercy of publishers or venture capitalists that have the bottom-line or their ROI on their minds.
One final thought, that you might be entertaining, is: “maybe they keep making sequels because they know that we like continuing our adventures in the same game world, maybe we love it and can’t get enough.” This might be true. I, for one, am extremely looking forward to Fallout 3 but I also am encouraging them to do whatever they can to push the boundaries whilst still remaining faithful to the original nature and feel of the game. However, for every fan boy eating up another sequel of <fill in the blank>, there are other gamers that would appreciate something new.
Long story short, originality and ingenuity is a rare commodity in this industry no matter what the source of the detriment. I like many gamers, lust for something totally new, something to blow our minds. So let’s send out the call! Hear us developers: surprise us, inspire us and break this industry wide open.
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