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Small developers are slowly diminishing, the end?

August 30, 2008 in Industry News comments 11

With the recent report that Square Enix is talking to Tecmo about taking them over and Activision merging with Blizzard, are the small developers slowly being put to a stop?

Gamer.Blorge sure thinks so, saying that the big dogs (EA, Square Enix, etc) have to take over the smaller devs in order for them to survive because of the cost to develop for the next gen systems. In the past, all they had do was make PS2 games, allowing them to survive with the PS2's huge fanbase.

If this trend keeps happening, we may see start seeing the same, boring games with nothing unique about them, which will cause us (the gamers) to lose interest.

Tecmo’s had its share of troubles lately especially with Tomonobu Itagaki, the creator of Dead or Alive series and developer of the Ninja Gaiden remakes, leaving Tecmo. Also Tecmo has not been as profitable as it once were back in the hey-days of it’s rein.

Now with huge publisher/studio Square Enix eating up Tecmo for breakfast we witness yet another case of a well known studio getting merged into a larger studio. Recently we witnessed the Activision Blizzard merger, as well as EA taking over Pandemic and Bioware among other studios. The reason so many studios are being swallowed up by bigger studios/publishers is because of the ever increasing competition that is occurring in the game industry.
tyranitar24 via gamer.blorge.com »
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  • 0
    Big A2 Aug 31, 08
    Alot of small developers make shot games. This could help keep a lot of shovelware of the shelves and out of 4 year old's consoles.
  • 2
    Koloth Aug 31, 08
    It does prevent some shovelware. On the other hand big companies can make shovelware too.

    The bigger problem is that it makes it difficult for upstart companies to make a decent game even if they have a real great idea. Damn near impossible to get started in this industry these days when it costs millions to make the next blockbuster title. Which means you would have to go to a publisher present your idea and hope they are willing to take a chance on you and give you a loan.
  • 0
    Seproth Aug 31, 08
    Well yeah, in a sense, they are dying. The thing you have to remember is that they're getting scooped up by bigger companies. They're work and vision aren't really lost. Sure they may have to compromise in order for the large developer to green light their project. For the most part their work will live on in a different package.
  • 0
    Remino52 Aug 31, 08
    I won't lose interest in Square Enix that is for sure.
  • 0
    Sayyed Aug 31, 08
    Well, is these companies are still there, they still could be making games. Just under a new name. Then again, if clover studios was still there, we would have okami 2. But we don't.
  • 1
    BANDITO ATTACK Aug 31, 08
    its only going to get worse, too. as the technology continues to get more and more powerful, it gets harder and harder just to make a game on par with the system, and thus costing much more money to develop for it.

    but there's always the PC, where 2D gaming will always be in style on the indie scene
  • 0
    Final Blade Aug 31, 08
    So basically what this article means gaming is dying due to these companies getting bought by big dogs like EA and SE? Great.
  • 0
    Starsky134 Sep 1, 08
    It's just sad. We might not get some great future games just because the small developers are discouraged by the sponsorship of larger companies. It reminds me of how Wal-Mart took over the department-store world.
  • 0
    HawkMan Sep 1, 08
    at cheaper prices! Wal-Mart is a great place to go to when it comes to grocery shopping.
  • 0
    Fatal Error Sep 1, 08
    Don't worry, ZUN will never leave!
  • 0
    Big Willie Sep 1, 08
    Well I'd hardly consider Blizzard a small developer, but no I don't see small developers being fazed out. Rather I believe they're going to be in a different form. In the next few years or so I imagine there's going to be a high influx of direct download games from independent developers. We're already seeing a taste of it with games like Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

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