Hi there! Let’s talk about what we think on the topic of Indie Games VS Big Company Game development.
Here’s my personal take on the subject:
Big Game Companies:
Big well established game companies have the obvious advantage in the financial department. Because of this, they have a lot more access to resources that independent game companies wouldn’t even be able to afford even with a decade’s worth of success. The big game companies can hire top talent in every department they need, such as programming, 3d modelling, 2d art, music composition and performance, and even story writing. Another important capability that big game companies have is their vast marketing reach. They can easily make tv ads, net commercials, and even have regular gamer oriented game magazines to hype games for them.
Independent Game Companies:
Just because big game companies have all the money they need to hire top talent to create games, that doesn’t mean independent game companies are not as talented as the people they hire. The only difference is that independent game companies usually have very low budgets that they can’t afford to have a lot of people working on a game at the same time. There’s usually a lot less programmers, 3d modellers, artists, and other things to use to create a game in a timely manner. Some people might even do 2 or more jobs just because they can’t afford to pay having anymore extra members in the team, and this greatly lengthens the development time of a game since nobody can concentrate on just one thing.
Gameplay:
I think that the feel or manner that a game plays is not relevant to whether a game company is rich or not. Anyone who has a game idea who is comfortable using his/her programming language (or at least has someone to do the job) should be able to translate that idea into gameplay. For example, there are many “clones” of famous games like Street Fighter, R-Type, and of course Mario. You can play these clones on flash sites or wherever on the net and just experience the same fun as playing the commercial versions.
Sound/Music:
This is probably one department where independent game companies will potentially have trouble with. Sound/Music composition is a different art itself and requires a talented musician. Usually, great singers, instrumentalists, or song writers already work and have established careers and require decent pay to write or perform some tunes for you. For sound effects, you’ll need someone with the right equipment who has the imagination and technical know-how to capture crystal clear sounds from the real world and modify them if needed using his tools. Sound and Music in games can get pretty expensive.
Graphics:
I think independent game companies don’t really have that much trouble in terms of graphics. I’ve seen a lot of people create 2d and 3d art that rivals the quality found in really big commercial games. More people also seem to know how to create 3d models that would be good for animation. I think the only real advantage of big game companies when it comes to graphics is that they have more people working on this part of the game and can finish up a lot faster with the same or better quality.
Story:
Although having an experienced writer on your team would help a lot in developing the story of your game (if you want a story), anyone can come up with nice and interesting stories. The only advantage big game companies have is they can hire people with experience in story writing, people who already know what mistakes to avoid and how to spice up seemingly bland situations with engaging dialogue.
Marketing:
Although big game companies have the power to easily afford air time for game commercials, in the age of the internet, independent game companies can market their games by themselves on game forums usually for no cost. Youtube and other video sites that let you put videos for free are very useful as well. Eventually, video game magazines will take notice of the indie game and write about it.
Distribution:
An indie game can easily be made available on the internet, no need for putting it on physical media like cds. I think this lessens the cost as well since majority of the people have net access these days anyway. You’d only be losing out on potential “walk-in” sales like from Gamestop or other places that sell games, but then again, these same people must have net access at home anyway so it doesn’t really matter.
Game Security:
I don’t think any form of DRM has been successful at all. Every game has been cracked, no matter what the big game companies say themselves. Look at Ubisoft, they say their “Always On” DRM was successful, but in reality, a simple check on your usual torrent places produces lots of “solutions” to their DRM. That’s the reality of DRM as of today, it’s just extra expense that doesn’t really stop a game from being distributed to others. Even if the DRM made the game super secure, it doesn’t hide the fact that the way it works is something that customers really hate. Recently, Ubisoft’s been removing certain ways that their DRM works, most probably because they’re realizing how bad the DRM is making them look to customers (but I still think they’re disillusioned with the reality of the DRM’s “success”). Until there’s a 100% proven DRM style, there’s no point investing in any of these protections as of now.
Anyway those are just my ideas about the whole indie vs big game company thing:)