In recent years, many independent games have become popular due to their creativity and unique gameplay. On the other hand, some 3A masterpieces have frequently fallen into the dilemma of being formulaic and having increasingly conservative budgets. In this regard, Sega executives responsible for the “Sonic the Hedgehog” series also publicly stated recently that 3A game companies actually have a lot to learn from independent game developers.
Small-budget works are more adventurous!
Takashi Iizuka, head of Sega’s “Sonic” series, mentioned in an interview that many independent game teams are smaller and do not need to bear huge commercial pressure, so they are more willing to try new ideas and new gameplay. He believes that this kind of creative freedom is something that many large studios are gradually losing. Iizuka also took the film industry as an example, believing that Hollywood can actually learn a lot from low-cost productions such as “The Backrooms” and “Obsession” that have become popular in recent years. Because many times it is not the budget that really attracts the audience, but the creativity itself.
Nowadays, 3A games are increasingly afraid of losing.
It’s no secret that game costs have continued to skyrocket in recent years. The development budgets of many AAA titles can reach hundreds of millions of dollars, causing publishers to become more conservative in their decision-making. Rather than taking risks and launching new gameplay, it is better to choose a model that has been proven successful by the market. The result is that players often see similar open worlds, similar mission designs, and gaming experiences that increasingly resemble each other. In contrast, many independent teams are willing to experiment with various strange ideas. Although the failure rate is high, once successful, it can often create new market trends.
“Sonic” is actually one of the beneficiaries
Iizuka said that he usually pays attention to many independent works, because he often sees ideas in them that large companies dare not do, and these ideas may not be able to appear on large IPs in the future. To some extent, the “Sonic” series has continued to try new gameplay and new directions in recent years, which somewhat reflects Sega’s willingness to observe market changes instead of just relying on past successful formulas.
What players see is actually a problem for the entire industry!
Interestingly, this statement quickly resonated with many players. After all, in recent years, independent works such as “Balatro”, “Lethal Company”, “Schedule I” and “Peak” have created amazing buzz and sales at a cost far lower than that of AAA masterpieces. On the contrary, many works that cost hundreds of millions of dollars were quickly forgotten by players after they were launched. Perhaps as Iizuka said, independent games may not necessarily have the best technical capabilities, but they often have what large companies lack most: the courage to take risks.