[karlgkk]

> I'm confident that creators of distinctive, original games will be able to find other publishers.

That confidence is (partially) misplaced. It's a really rough world out there for indie devs, and if you do find a publisher, many times they are not interested in paying as much attention to your title as you are.

[seanhunter]

Exactly, and if you take stray or Neon White as examples, part of the reason they got so much attention was the reputation that Annapurna Interactive had gained by publishing a game as excellent as Outer Wilds. So people took much more notice of those games than they might have done coming from some random indie publisher with no track record. As excellent as those games are, this might have made a very big diference to the traction they got at the start.

[ekianjo]

they can self publish then. thats always an option.

[karlgkk]

That’s definitely one of those easier said than done things, that someone who’s never tried to do will think.

Publishers have benefits, there’s a reason some game, developers, and other type of media creators will eagerly sign away a big chunk of their revenue. Not true for every media or genre, but there’s a reason these companies exist.

[ekianjo]

of course publishers bring benefits. but lets not pretend self publishing is not a thing in the games industry.

[karlgkk]

Nobody said it wasn’t

[october8140]

They can’t self fund.

[ekianjo]

most publishers dont give money without seeing a fairly elaborate demo. And making games is something that can be done with zero budget unlike endeavors in many other industries.

[delusional]

Outer Wilds was in production for 7 years. Practically nobody can fund years of full time work without some external funding. I don't have any proof, but I am confident that Annapurna poured some amount of money into that venture during those 7 years.

[keyringlight]

IIRC Mobius Digital got their initial money for Outer Wilds from crowdfunding after a much more limited demo of what they wanted to achieve, then I assume Annapurna came on the scene later when they went professional and needed support for multi-platform. The period where kickstarter was more commonly accepted for game projects is over, and fewer projects could get a similar starting point that lets them spend years on their first release

[ekianjo]

most games dont take 7 years to make so making a point with outliers is not a very good argument.

[delusional]

Most games aren't good. If we don't talk about the outliers we'll be stuck talking about roblox maps, king.com games, or assassins creed. Everything Annapurna interactive funded was an outlier, that's what made it interesting.