Intro: The nature of the video game industry lends itselfkoo to playing it safe and developing games that don’t change the status quo. This is why we see games like Madden which have been produced with the same mechanics since 1988 and will probably always be produced until the heat death of the universe. Recently however, there has been a large uptick in the development of indie games. This is because of several technological improvements that destroy the obstacles that would normally plague a game developer.

• Before the 21st century, most games were distributed in retail – requiring developers to contact a publisher to make physical copies and to advertise their product.
  • Most publishers would only take games that were guaranteed to make a profit, redoing formulaic game mechanics that had worked before. This lead to a stagnation in many mainstream games.
  • It was incredibly hard for an independent publisher to afford these costs, and most of the time it would be impossible for them to even get to a retail store. They got no exposure and it was harder to make games.
  • comment on how only graphics have improved
    • talk about GTAV
  • Digital distribution started in the 2000s and it became increasingly easy to buy and show games online. Show Steam stats.
  • Show part of Newell quote
• PC and mobile games were very beneficial towards digital distribution
  • most digital distribution developed for those platforms
  • ios store gained 500 new games every day on the ios store
• Indie devs inspire others
  • anecdote about indie game expo I went to
• Easier than ever
  • Unity Engine, GameMaker, Unreal Engine
  • crowdfunding
    • show Kickstarter stats, talk about Star Citizen
• Games could be art with the rise of indie games
  • compare to regular artists
  • diversity of industry is crucial
• Conclusion: Currently AAA games are restricted by the necessity of profit because they cost so much to make. With the advent of community – produced indie games, many of those restrictions disappear and the freedom of creation is given over to passionate developers. This shift could revolutionize the state of the gaming industry from a profit-drive enterprise to a form of expression.