Better to be Independent?
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Better to be Independent? "Why should I work for a mid-sized independent studio over a nice big comfy publisher?"
Large publishers are hardly comfy, I would argue..
Large publishers are hardly comfy, I would argue..
I don't recognize the word independent when used to describe companies like Splash Damage. On three occasions, they've been hired to do a job by Activision and/or ID. Now they've been employed by Bethesda. As soon as they have work, they're being told what to do by the company they're contracted to, and they're being paid by them. The only sense in which they're independent is when they're not actually working, but rather waiting for someone to give them work, because at that point, they have a choice of who they work for, whereas a studio owned by a publisher will always work for the same publisher.
But with European labour laws being so free, that applies to just about anyone. I could get a job for McDonalds and claim to be an independent chef, because I could stop working there and go and work for Burger King instead.
To me, it seems that independent has become the latest buzzword. Five years ago, the buzzword was middleware, everyone was either developing or utilizing middleware. Never mind that anyone who bought Particle Candy or one of SSwift's systems could be said to be using middleware, it was just so cool to use that word. Now everyone is independent, despite the fact that they're dependent on someone else for their money, their job description, and everything else. A few years ago, independent was looked down upon, it was the second tier of games. Pretty soon the real independents will be looking around for a new term, because Ubisoft and EA will be describing themselves as "Indie".
But with European labour laws being so free, that applies to just about anyone. I could get a job for McDonalds and claim to be an independent chef, because I could stop working there and go and work for Burger King instead.
To me, it seems that independent has become the latest buzzword. Five years ago, the buzzword was middleware, everyone was either developing or utilizing middleware. Never mind that anyone who bought Particle Candy or one of SSwift's systems could be said to be using middleware, it was just so cool to use that word. Now everyone is independent, despite the fact that they're dependent on someone else for their money, their job description, and everything else. A few years ago, independent was looked down upon, it was the second tier of games. Pretty soon the real independents will be looking around for a new term, because Ubisoft and EA will be describing themselves as "Indie".
Pretty soon the real independents will be looking around for a new term, because Ubisoft and EA will be describing themselves as "Indie".
Well to be perfectly fair, they are. :o> On a similar topic, here's my views on working as a contractor versus working in an office:
http://greyaliengames.com/blog/working-as-a-contractor/
http://greyaliengames.com/blog/working-as-a-contractor/