Unity game: North America market research independent developers return to the publisher model, unity North America

Unity game: North America market research independent developers return to the publisher model, unity North America

The data from an industry survey at this game developer conference gave me some new thoughts on the trend of Self-release of games. This survey sampled 2014 participants from the 2000 North American game developers conference. The results show that the proportion of self-released games by developers has decreased, while the proportion of self-released games by searching for publishers has increased. Comparing the data in 2014 and 2013, we can find that the number of developers who use publishers to issue their latest games has increased by 6 percentage points (from 23% to 29% ). At the same time, the proportion of developers who plan to deliver the next project to the publisher has also increased by 3 percentage points (from 28% to 31% ).

Although there is not enough time span and evidence to prove whether this is a trend, data may also have vulnerabilities, but this data still deserves us to rethink the importance of game publishers. From 2013 to 2014, the game market has become the Red Ocean. From last year's report, we can find that there are more games released in the first five months of 2014 than in 2013. At the same time, mobile app stores become more mature and more applications are in place. The digital distribution market of the next generation of game hosts also shows the same trend.

Developers have long understood that they can release their own games. However, many developers have found that their games are overwhelmed by the massive volume of games on the market. How can this problem be solved? Developers are considering returning to the publisher proxy mode.

Mike Wilson is a veteran game publisher. His company, Devolver Digital, once published the Miami hotline and Luftrausers) independent games such as The Talos Principle. He said that game publishers have always been important to the industry, but they are not as good as they were before.

Wilson said: "publishers can bring value to developers. The problem is that they have been overly demanding or controlling developers. Most developers working with us know that they can survive without publishers. However, it is beneficial for both parties to establish a fair trade relationship with developers based on mutual respect and trust ."

Devolver Digital positions itself as an independent publisher not only because it issues games for independent developers, but also because its target user group is small independent studios that operate at a low cost. For them, not only games that sell millions of copies are successful. Wilson said: "for developers, the bloated and huge release companies may not be ideal partners, because in the old business model, who has the money, who has the right to say ."

Cliff Harris, a senior game developer and independent game publisher, is the founder of a personal Positech operator. He developed and released his own games, including democracy and Gratuitous Space Battles. However, since Tiniest Shark's Sequoia, it has recently launched independent games. Interestingly, he claims that the reason why Positech is transformed into a publisher is partly because it actively promotes its own services. But in general, "compared with a few years ago, more developers are considering cooperating with independent publishers ."

Harris pointed out that as the game market turned into the Red Ocean, the role of publishers also changed. "For independent developers, game exposure is the biggest challenge. In the past, developers paid more attention to funds and commercial suggestions. Now, they have increased their attention to their own games and made them stand out as their main concern ." Harris said: "Most startups have little experience in PR and the market. They have seen a large number of game releases but are ignored by players ."

Vlambeer, A Rami Ismail studio, once launched a game such as "Fantastic phishing", but still handed the release of "skysky qibing" to Devolver Digital. Ismel is an independent developer with a special commercial mind. He believes that although many developers have chosen publishers, publishers are not necessary. "Exposure is a problem because there are more games than before. Although publishers can help you, their operations are similar to those of developers ."

Whether it is an independent release or a joint release with the publisher depends on the service that the developer wants. If developers want a game to succeed in the market, they have to weigh the relationship between their needs and the services that publishers can provide and determine whether the services are worth your money. "I still believe that if you can make high-quality and unique things, you 'd better do it yourself," ismel said ." However, there is no absolute answer to the question of whether the publisher is required.

David Edery, CEO of Spry Fox, a veteran in the gaming industry and developer of "unselected path", believes: "the current self-release is more difficult than two years ago or even four years ago ." His studio will also be released jointly with the publisher. "That is to say, whether you need a publisher cannot be generalized ." He added: "For example, no matter how fierce the competition in the mobile gaming market is, if your game is small, beautiful, or original, your financial expectations are not too high, if you have a good relationship with Apple and Google, you don't have to look for publishers."

For ederry, the demand for popular vendors is closely related to project risks. "If we are working on a high-risk and high-return project, the publisher is an ideal partner who can provide funds to help us reduce risks and provide development suggestions and product analysis, and help us get more users to achieve the maximum return. If the project has low risk and low return rate, it does not seem significant to ask the publisher ." Report from goujie.com!