Making video games is hard. Anyone who is vaguely familiar with the process of game development can tell you that.
The advancement of technology has democratized game development tools in such a way that nearly anyone with the desire to make a game can now do so. As technology has grown so has the complexity of games. This complexity has led to longer development cycles, frequent delays, games shipping with myriad bugs, and sometimes outright cancellations.
A relatively recent trend making everyone on the internet angry is the over-promising of developers. Crowdfunding platforms, like Kickstarter, have given developers the ability to work on passion projects that they would otherwise be unable to acquire enough funding for. “Stretch goals” incentivize backers to donate even more money to support additional features and content.
The problem is that even though the process of making a game has become easier, games are still incredibly difficult to make. Even industry veterans run into unforeseen complications and time constraints.
Usually, ambition is considered a positive quality, but in the realm of game development calling a game ambitious generally has a negative connotation. It means the developer(s) bit off more than they could chew and as result the final product feels somewhat lacking or incomplete. Suddenly those stretch goals have to be cut because funding is starting to run out or development is taking too long. The final product only marginally resembles the original pitch. We’ve seen examples of this like Fable, Destiny, and more recently No Man’s Sky. Three games built by experienced development teams that all fell short of their expectations.
Game Protocol, a decentralized game store and crowdfunding platform, aims to rectify this increasingly prevalent issue. The nature of Game Protocol’s co-working community will help establish a rapport between developers and their community. Ideally, this will bring players closer to the development process, giving them more reasonable expectations. It will also keep the developers in tune with their audience, helping them stay true to their original vision.
