  Warren Spector. |
MONTREAL (CP) — Video games may make billions of dollars a year, but the industry needs to take risks and be creative in widening its universe — and audience — or else risk stagnation, a veteran game developer has warned.
Warren Spector, in the keynote address at the Montreal International Game Summit, urged an industry audience to step outside of the box, to look beyond merely making “prettier” Grand Theft Auto clones and sports titles.
“Sadly sticking with the tried and true is going to result in financial success for some, for a time. But stagnation is not the friend of any medium. And anybody who thinks it is (is) going to go out of business,”said Spector, an American developer whose resume includes Wing Commander, Deus Ex, Thief: Deadly Shadows and several of the Ultima series.
He also lamented the cost of making games, saying the high price tag had chased away the “indie” developers who had contributed much of the industry’s creativity.
While Spector also talked of the opportunities awaiting developers via next-generation consoles and other improved hardware, he also warned the industry could become “marginalized” unless it adapts.
“There are a lot of pitfalls and problems facing us. ... It is definitely the best of times and the worst of times. I think it is important for us to recognize both.”
His speech followed on the heels of more optimistic comments from Wayne Clarkson. The Telefilm Canada head noted one study that pegged the worldwide video game industry growing from $25 million US in 2004 to more than $58 million in the next five years.
Spector agreed there is money to be made but, citing the increased costs of making games, said the rich will get richer while smaller players might fade away.
Ten years ago, Spector related, he made games for $2.5 million US, with 30 people on the development team. Then, for Deus Ex, it went to $5 million to $7 million with 50 people.
“Then it’s 12 million bucks and 80-90 people, It’s just crazy. And that’s just the starting point for next-generation (games).”
The entry-level budget for a game on one platform is $8 million, he said. “That’s insane.”
“Most games lose money,” he added.
Spector, who is currently working on as-yet unannounced projects at his Junction Point Studios, also worried about a huge audience that is being excluded from today’s games.
“There’s age, gender and ethnicity, and all of these things are about to start biting us on the butt if we’re not careful.”
The core demographic for gaming is getting older. That is good and bad news, he suggested.
“Older players have different life experiences, trust me. And they want and demand different kinds of content. . . . Skateboarding? Not part of my life particularly. Urban thuggery? Not interested. Extreme sports? It’s been a while for me.”
Age is also a factor in making games. Older developers have lives outside the office and aren’t willing to forgo that during crunch time in making a game.
“I want to spend time with my wife . . . I want to have a life,” Spector said.
As for gender, the industry has done a dismal job in attracting women as gamers and developers, he added.
“By and large (female developers) work on guy games, which is the only kind of games we make, and their work is sadly indistinguishable from the world of their male counterparts. . . . On the ethnicity side, I’m sorry, I see literally no progress.”
The industry needs to reach out to new developers, find new content or else face “grim” consequences.
“If we don’t start attracting women, we’re ignoring half the freaking world,” he said. “And if don’t start paying attention to non-Anglo males, we are ignoring most of the world.”
The internationalization of gaming is inevitable and has already started, he said. North American developers had better realize it.
“We’re starting to compete with a lot of developers in Asia and eastern Europe who are as clever as we are and creative as we are and get paid a lot less. That’s a scary combination.”
“There might not be a Canadian development industry, there might not be a North American development industry if guys in eastern Europe and Asia can do our jobs better than we can,”
Still Spector says competition is good, forcing the industry to change and adapt.
As development costs skyrocket, outsourcing some jobs on a game project around the world is a real alternative, he suggested.
Both Spector and Neil Young, vice-president and general manager at Electronic Arts, said video gaming is still a growing art form.
Comparing it to the movie industry, Young said video games were still “pre-Citizen Kane,” with developers figuring out what buttons to push and what levers to pull.
Added Spector: “It’s important to remember that we work in a medium of staggering potential. We haven’t even scratched the surface yet.”
The second annual Montreal summit has attracted more than 700 delegates to the two-day conference. Unlike E3, the influential trade show in Los Angeles, the Montreal gathering is devoted to workshops, speeches and forums — more akin to the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
