The Escapist Bulletin: Publishers versus Developers

Why did Microsoft shut down Ensemble Studios? Well, it depends who you ask. Paul Bettner, former creative director for Ensemble, blamed a corporate culture that emphasised working long hours for prolonged periods, leading to employees burning out - which in turn led to projects going over time and over budget, which proved simply too expensive for Microsoft’s shareholders.

If you ask gamers, on the other hand, you’re likely to get a dozen different reasons, ranging from a sensible discussion about budget and schedules to a ridiculous tirade about how Microsoft is evil and greedy.

Gamers’ relationship with the industry is a strange one. While their knowledge is ahead of the curve compared to regular consumers, usually it’s not far enough ahead, and as a result their understanding is often unsophisticated at best.

Their interest is understandable, of course: they’re passionate about their hobby, and corporate decisions often have a lasting impact on games. All too often gamers will turn a complex dispute between companies into a simplistic developer versus publisher grudge match, with the developer cast as the hero and the publisher a moustache-twirling villain.

Gamers are reluctant to acknowledge that video games are a multi-billion dollar industry, and often they're so wrapped up in their own sense of entitlement that they go crazy when money enters the conversation.

Initiatives meant to make buying new games seem more appealing than buying them pre-owned get twisted into attempts to extort money out of gamers by the nefarious publisher and decisions to shut down the multiplayer servers of underperforming titles become a publisher screwing over its customers to save money.

Take the recent trouble between Activision and Infinity Ward bosses Jason West and Vince Zampella. The two sides tell very different stories: Activision claims that West and Zampella violated the terms of their contract, while West and Zampella claim that Activision owes them millions in unpaid royalties and has filed a lawsuit for them, and for the rights to the Modern Warfare brand.

Popular opinion sides with Ward and Zampella, not because of any real compelling evidence, but mostly because Infinity Ward makes good games and gamers are predisposed to side with the creative over the corporate.

That’s not to say that we should never be suspicious of the corporate interests - that’s as naive as assuming that all game makers are paragons of virtue, but these issues are more complicated than simply picking a team and cheering them from the sidelines.

By responding emotionally rather than critically, we obfuscate the issue until we’re not having the discussions we should be having. In the case of West and Zampella, what we should be talking about is the possible ramifications of the case, not how Bobby Kotick is the worst thing that’s happened to gaming.

Behind nearly every great game is a developer and a publisher, and both are important in making a game successful. Discussions about the money side of the gaming are important to have, but we will all find them more useful and more fulfilling if we approach them armed with knowledge rather than emotion.