Thoughts on Summer Game Fest
Excited to see new projects for sure, but i hope folks can see that this isn't some beautiful replacement of the old corporate showcases, its just the next generation. Ask yourself, is this really any different than any other glorified ad space? Ask yourself, why is it more common to see non-creatives like CEOs on stage instead of the artists, writers, and programmers? Why is it that, of the creatives we do see, its folks who already have some flavor of fame? Where are the indies that arent backed by big publishers? Ask why is it that I can see more unique, original projects from a 20 minute walk-around youtube vid of an indie alley? Ask why half of the titles showcased at summer games fest will have a number after the title. SGF and TGA are built on fame and safe bets, under the guise of celebrating creativity. Most of the stuff you'll see will already have ads all over the internet, made by the biggest publishers in the business. Those games arent bad or evil, but they are established already.
This show is currently a spotlight for the big players, and a small mercy is given to a few smaller projects in between as the spotlight moves from fortnite to call of duty, from assassins creed to fromsoft. The festival celebrates success - not creativity. Creativity is messy and risky, and SGF stays away from this fairly clearly. Would SGF ever announce a game like Balatro, from an unknown? Not a chance. But would SGF love to showcase Balatro2? Guaranteed. SGF loves success, and is allergic to the risk inherint in creativity. And its why im so over these big shows. They are a big spotlight that highlights success - but the biggest changes to games and art come from the weirdos, the fanatics, the zealous creatives that have bad posture, that don't have a thousand employees, that don't have a studio.
FLAWLESS SEGWAY im really proud to be dropping the demo for my own game Death Machine into the steam next fest on monday. It's not a stage that only the successful get to ride, it is an actual gathering of people showing off their hard work from all walks of life. There will be good games, bad games, weird games, pretty games, ugly games, big games made on a zillion dollars, smol games made on no dollars, games made for fun, and passion projects galore. And THAT is where you will find "unknown dev makes smash hit in a basement", not SGF.
thanks for reading, pls support indies. anyways…
rattles cup can a guy get a wishlist or two???
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2741830/Death_Machine/
