RPGWatch - Jay Barnson Interview

We had the chance to talk with Jay Barnson the Rampant Coyote this month about game development,  his new novels, and the state of indie RPG games.

How you feel about the game industry, and the current state of Indie games?

Jay Barnson: The industry right now is in a massive state of flux. I've been cheerleading the "indie revolution" for about a decade now, but I wasn't prepared for all the repercussions. I feel a little like that old song by REM - "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine." The game industry as we've known it is... well, maybe not dead, maybe not even dying, but it's definitely going through some massive changes. I'm not sure what it's going to look like when we're done.

As a gamer, it's phenomenal - look how many games we have to choose from, and on so many platforms! But it's kinda consuming itself right now. There are too many games, and not enough gamers spending enough money on games to sustain what's happening out there. As a gamer, it's thrilling, but as a game developer, it's scary. It's never been easier to make games or get your games out there, but it's as hard as ever trying to actually get noticed by anyone other than your Mom. And my mom is pretty clueless about RPGs, so she's not really my target audience.

One of the issues that we are facing now is the rise of the "big indie." It's not a new problem, and I don't want to even call it a problem, but it's a big issue. We're facing the same kind of escalation in the indie space in terms of budgets and production values that we previously faced in the mainstream biz. What's wrong with that? I mean, on the surface, nothing. I'm as absolutely thrilled by the big, high-quality games that we're now seeing out of places like inXile and Larian and Obsidian right now as everyone else.

But as those budgets rise, so does risk-aversion. We're seeing it start now. I mean, what wins the crowdfunding wars? It's starting to come down to something of a winning formula. I am not complaining too loudly right now, because I happen to like the formula, and it's causing the kinds of games to get funded that I've waited a long time to see. But that won't last forever, and in a couple of years we may once again find ourselves marginalized and optimized out of the equation.