The Decline of the Publisher

    There's been a lot of news out there lately about video game publishers.  These publishing giants,  such as Electronic Arts, THQ, and Activision, haven't been doing as well as one would think.  While each of these companies heads up a very well known franchise or two,  there revenue streams are at some of their worst lows in years.  For example,  in 2008 EA's stock went from $48 a share to $12, a 75% loss of which they have not been able to come back from.  Also,  it was found out recently that THQ is defaulting on a $50 million dollar credit from Wells Fargo.   All this while Activision's leaders are looking to sell the company.  These things do not seem to bode well for these big companies.  But does this really affect the industry as a whole?

   One would think these things would worry gamers like myself,  thinking that we will never see some of our favorite franchises again.  However, I view this a bit differently.  While the loss of jobs in those companies will be the real tragedy,  the series that they hang on to will be most likely sold off.  This could mean seeing new people at the helm of these games, breathing new life into them.  So this could be a real win for the ailing franchises that all these companies are hanging on to.  

   However with all these problems in the AAA gaming foray,  the Indie scene is still on the rise.  With crowd funding and innovation,  there's nothing stopping this train.  Because the tools are so easy to come by,  small studios are able to make games that can stand shoulder to shoulder with these high end titles.  In most cases they are outselling them 10 to 1 (Minecraft is a big example),  and the cost of developing these low end indie games is very low.  So profits are high for smaller companies in this industry.  

   Now,  as a gamer myself,  in my opinion I must say that lately I am more impressed with smaller indie games and less impressed with high end AAA titles.  For example,  one of my favorite running survival horror series, Resident Evil,  let me down this year.   Capcom spent big money on the franchise amping everything up, content, action, and story.  However my impression was that it had drifted so far from what I loved about the series that I couldn't recognize it anymore.  I enjoyed Resident Evil because of the fear in it,  not the cover shooting or the dudebro action.  Buying that game would have set me back $65 (with tax). 

   Awhile back,  I purchased one of the Humble Bundles for about 8 bucks.  With it came Amnesia The Dark Descent (this was around May of this year).  I decided recently,  since I wanted to play a horror game, to start playing this (I heard lots of good things).  While this game is different in how it plays from RE,  Amnesia is very superior to the latest iteration in terms of fear.  I was completely blown away by this game and continue to be impressed,  I am now looking forward to the sequel (Amnesia A Machine For Pigs),  which will most likely retail for $20.  

   My point with what I am saying is that,  while it's sad that with the decline of AAA gaming many people will lose their jobs due to downsizing.   Small studios being able to release games due to smaller budgets or crowd funding, eliminating the need for publishers, will free up developers being held down by what their owners want and allowing them to release what they want.  This will result in better quality games and more innovation in a field that can frequently feel stagnant.  All in all though I do hope AAA gaming stays in good shape.

Thanks for reading.