Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer says he doesn’t know why the games industry hasn’t seen a positive change in fortunes for a while, but assumes it’s due to greed.
In an interview with the BBC discussing the studio’s departure from Xbox and return to full independence, Schafer was asked whether he felt the economics of games had changed in recent years.
He replied that he doesn’t feel he knows how the economics of games work any more, because it used to be cycle of ups and downs and now he hasn’t seen an ‘up’ for a while.
“I don’t understand the economics of making games to be honest,” Schafer explained. “I often for years thought I understood them, because there are layoffs, which is bad, and then the people who make games realise ‘oh, we need people to make games’, the executives are like ‘oh, we fired everybody, we need some people to make this game’, they hire them back, and then they… you know.
“So I always assume ‘oh, there’ll be this cycle of ups and downs, and ups and downs’. But it’s been down for, like, four years, and I don’t know why. I really don’t, because people are playing games, and people are making money, so I don’t know why there’s a big loss of jobs.
“I just assume it’s, like, someone is being greedy somewhere. But I hope it is a cycle, and I hope it bounces back.”
Schafer added that while the layoffs tend to be more vicious in the AAA space, indie developers are also at risk, and he hopes for a future where developers can focus on their work, rather than whether they’ll still have work soon.
“I think there’s a lot of life and and excitement and creativity in the games industry now, especially in the indie space,” he said. “I’m not one of those snobs who says only indie games are creative. I think a lot of AAA games do a lot of great creative work.
“It’s just that, it’s been a much more violent place to work in AAA, you know, much more stressful, and your work is often not as rewarded, because you will get laid off as soon as you finish your game. But in indie games, there’s no guarantee of being not – not laid off – but out of money after you ship your game. So, they both have their risks.
“And what I’ve learned is that people in the games industry didn’t just come here for the stability, or come here for the lifestyle. They came here because they just had it in their head that there was no other choice but they had to work in games.
“It’s just what they decided they’re going to do, and they love it, and so they’re willing to take that risk, and hopefully that risk becomes… I do want the games industry to become a where creative people are given the space to do creative work for the benefit of all of us, and don’t have to worry about their jobs and supporting their families to do that.”
“We want to live” – Schafer says Double Fine is “worth fighting for”
Elsewhere in the interview, Schafer was asked how he felt when he knew Double Fine was in danger of closing down, and whether he considered stepping down as the head of the studio.
Schafer replied that he didn’t initially realise there was a chance to keep the studio going, and once he did he was adamant that he was going to fight for it.
“At first the news is like… it takes you a while to realise you have the power to survive,” he explained. “You know, first it was like ‘well, I guess they’re going to shut us down’.
“And then I was like ‘wait a second, there are other options, you know. Do you want to die? No, we want to live. Double Fine’s always been very hard to kill.
“It’s always had this very strong will to live, I think, because it’s very unique in the industry, and it’s very important to have a place where creativity is king, and to walk that strange space we occupy within double-A, you know.
“Just being able to do little indie games like Thank You Bus Driver, and bigger games like Psychonauts 2, I think it’s a unique studio with a unique set of values that’s worth fighting for.
“So, yeah, that got [us] motivated to keep it alive, and that really helped focus all of our efforts and motivate the team, for sure.”
