It’s our favorite time again – what did Peter Molyneux say? This time, gaming’s grandfather (or maybe he’s the crazy uncle, or black sheep cousin) said indies should enjoy their time in the sun because it won’t last. He also gave one of my favorite quotes ever regarding Microsoft.
Speaking to Computer and Video Games, Molyneux explained that these things go in cycles:
Don’t think we’re going to be all indies for the next five years – these things go in cycles, just like in the music business. You have a time where punk is big, and then you have times like now where everything is manufactured.
Enjoy this time, because inevitably it will only last a short period.
He talked about the GDC, saying how angel investors were practically stalking the indies, desperate to throw money at them. Indies are certainly the darlings at the moment, getting plenty of love from gamers and publishers alike. However, Molyneux has seen this before – he likened it to the 80s when there were no formulas, when anyone could create a hugely successful game.
It certainly is a good time to be an indie, and Molyneux knows it. He sees his move towards independence as well timed and is very happy that he left Microsoft:
Personally, if I was still working at Microsoft I would be self-harming. It would be a horrible experience. I now feel like I’m back in an industry that’s truly fascinating and marvellous, and I can say crazy things like, ‘let’s create a game that connects 70 million people together!’
We used to have these very defined ways to create a game, which resulted in Halo, Call of Duty and all of that stuff, but now we’ve thrown all of that away. The games that we’re celebrating now are stuff like Papers, Please – which is brilliant.
Wow, it’s amazing how vitriolic former Microsoft employees can get when talking about the corporation. Still, it is wonderful to see games like Papers, Please getting the celebration and accolades, right alongside AAA titles. Molyneux may be right, though – I’m not sure that this trend will last for very long, and indies had better take advantage of the attention (and financing) while they can.
Last Updated: March 26, 2014
Jaded_Reprobate
March 26, 2014 at 15:08
this reminds me of a broken clock being right twice a day… maybe just not that extreme
Hammersteyn
March 26, 2014 at 15:09
Hahaha XD
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:17
Ya, once a day 😉
TiMsTeR1033
March 26, 2014 at 15:12
Tisk tisk Zoe, what’s going on with these headers? You gotta be the photoshop, to master the photoshop. In all honesty I blame this all on you using a Mac for so long.
Her Highness the Hipster
March 26, 2014 at 15:16
moly and i are both geniuses – we will be appreciated… one day 😛
Admiral Chief of Auraxis
March 26, 2014 at 15:19
That day I will sprout wings
TiMsTeR1033
March 26, 2014 at 15:19
I will only appreciate him if he makes Black and white 3, till then he is nothing to me but a Mole.
Mark Vincer
March 26, 2014 at 15:42
This is like watching Sharknado for the whole “so-bad-it’s-good” factor
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:44
lol agreed.
Alien Emperor Trevor
March 26, 2014 at 15:44
You two should get together at the genius bar 😉
Unavengedavo(aka. Bilbo)
March 26, 2014 at 15:19
Lol, the irony is that most design companies prefer Mac for some reason O_o
TiMsTeR1033
March 26, 2014 at 15:22
They are just better with design programs. Personally I am yet to use a mac at work, but would be awesome. Would never get a mac for pc at home though.
Mark Vincer
March 26, 2014 at 15:42
I’ve yet to find any difference between PS on my Mac at work and on my little lappy at home. InDesign CS6 drags like a mother on my Mac and I have the newest Mac in the office.
TiMsTeR1033
March 26, 2014 at 15:50
hmmm I wouldn’t of expected that at all.
Mark Vincer
March 26, 2014 at 16:09
I can run CS6 fine off a little Pentium with 4GB ram where my Mac is an i5 with 4Gb ram. I don’t see a difference. And my Mac hangs/stalls a lot more than my Windows machines back home.
Mark Vincer
March 27, 2014 at 08:10
Also, apparently CS6 is a little less resource-heavy than the others.
Alien Emperor Trevor
March 26, 2014 at 15:13
I don’t see the indie boom as really ending. The barriers to entry are pretty low now, so anyone with an idea can try to realise it, and every aspiring indie dev is not suddenly going to end up with investor funding. It’s just getting more difficult to sort the fun from the tedious because of the sheer number being released – if anything it’ll be consumer fatigue that bursts the bubble, not funding.
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:17
I can if the big guys decide to start copying all their games ala ” Luftrausers clone Skyfar steals money from Vlambeer”.
Boerseun
March 26, 2014 at 15:25
But wasn’t that what also led to the gaming crash in the 80’s too?
Alien Emperor Trevor
March 26, 2014 at 15:31
Like @hammersteyn:disqus said, we didn’t have the internet in the 80’s, which makes it easier to sort the good from the bad. I see a crash in the future of big publishers & the devs who rely on them as more likely – they’re getting out of control with their budgets.
Boerseun
March 26, 2014 at 16:03
True what you say. As a gamer myself, I also would like to add the arrogance of certain devs, with the amount we have to pay for a game and then the length of play we get.
Admiral Chief of Auraxis
March 26, 2014 at 15:13
http://www.personal.psu.edu/afr3/blogs/siowfa13/moley.jpg
Hammersteyn
March 26, 2014 at 15:14
Bwahahahaha
TiMsTeR1033
March 26, 2014 at 15:18
MOLEY
Hammersteyn
March 26, 2014 at 15:14
In the 80’s the video game industry crashed because anyone could make a game for Atari and put Space in the title. Movie licensed games back then was as shitty as they are now for the most part (like ET). Things has changed though. AAA games costs a bundle and is expensive to make leaving a gap in the budget range which indies has filled quite nicely.
Also in the 80’s there wasn’t even Internet. So there was no way that you could know if a game would be any good. That’s why crappy Indie games doesn’t sell and those that do sell like Papers Please is excellent value for money.
I cant see Indie games failing in the next ten years and AAA companies worry to much about shareholders to make cheaper games. I’ve bemoaned Capcom for remaking Ducktales and stopping there while they have so many licenses like Megaman, Final Fight or even Ghosts ‘n Goblins.
Also if things truly moves in circles it must mean that Peter has submitted his CV for Microsoft by now.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
March 26, 2014 at 15:15
‘let’s create a game that connects 70 million people together!’
Eish please stop with the always online talk. I hope always online is just a phase that will eventually go away as well.
ToshZA
March 26, 2014 at 15:35
I think he used that as a point, rather than an actual thing. What he’s saying is that right now Indies have the freedom to do whatever crazy shit they want to do.
However I think he’s right in saying it won’t last. I can already see formulas are developing such as platformers – where things are starting to repeat themselves. I also think the good indies will grow to become more and more AAA than they intend – which is how the current AAA studios got there. It just happened over time. You don’t just become a AAA studio overnight.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
March 26, 2014 at 15:49
Yeah, I got what he was saying. But it’s Moly Moly. Gotta troll the Molly man
Alien Emperor Trevor
March 26, 2014 at 15:49
Trolly the Moly!
ToshZA
March 26, 2014 at 17:23
Fair enough – he’s earned it.
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:16
Lol. Wow, not much love for MS out there, unless you are Pieter Molyneux trololol
Jedi JJ
March 26, 2014 at 15:17
You had me at “insults Microsoft”
Jedi JJ
March 26, 2014 at 15:19
This guy needs to start listening to metal. Unmanufactured since inception.
Admiral Chief of Auraxis
March 26, 2014 at 15:20
Venus is so hardcore, it snows metal
Jedi JJ
March 26, 2014 at 15:21
And they say women are from Venus? Interesting.
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:28
What, like Dragon Force? *RUNS
Norm the Horrible
March 26, 2014 at 15:31
LOL!
Alien Emperor Trevor
March 26, 2014 at 15:31
Hopefully not the same 5 seconds over & over again.
Jedi JJ
March 26, 2014 at 15:35
That hurts man. Something else I’ll never live down.
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:36
*Hands base strings over…
Jedi JJ
March 26, 2014 at 15:38
I play a seven string though, so your six strings aren’t making me afraid.
🙂
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:38
These are Cliff Burton strings 0-O
Jedi JJ
March 26, 2014 at 15:40
Eish. You cut to the core of me.
Rince
March 26, 2014 at 15:54
Guy was a legend bro, flipping legend.
ToshZA
March 26, 2014 at 15:32
Dude, you’re a legend!
Ross Woofels Mason
March 26, 2014 at 16:05
If these so called “Triple A” title keep going the way they are I think it will be awhile before Indies get knocked down. 95% of the games of late I have played have all been indie titles because they are afforable and fun.
I get 8 – 10 hours out of a “AAA” title if I am lucky, going well that was pretty and never touch the game again. The bulk of my indie titles I am sitting on 20+ hours because you can just pick them up and run with them.
I do how ever think the gaming industry is catching a-bit of a wake up this generation and going back to gaming the side of things over lets see how pretty we can make it.
FoxOneZA
March 26, 2014 at 16:27
It’s official, The Banana and the ‘Neux are friends!!!!!! (o0)
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
March 26, 2014 at 18:36
Now… He dislikes Microsoft… Sigh! Oh Peter….
Matthew Holliday
March 27, 2014 at 09:42
Peter Molyneux: The Kanye West of game developers.
Scratch17
March 28, 2014 at 11:50
Well, if Peter Molyneux says that the indie movement is coming to a close, I’d better start my game STAT. *code code doodle code royalty-free sound code*