An introduction to the game industry.

The industry as a whole has changed a lot in recent years. Thats not just in terms of the way that the industry is run, either. At a fundamental level, the audience for games has changed dramatically over the past decade or so, especially with the advent of the smartphone and the tablet. This huge boom in audience has forced the gaming industry to adapt to fill that market, and because of that there has been a large change in the way games are made. The industry is worth more today than it ever has been before, and in order to deal with massive expense of making games there are various ways that the industry tackles this problem. Firstly, there are power-house companies like EA which take relatively few risks, but reap high rewards. In general, within the AAA field I feel like a lot of "gamers", that is people who believe themselves to have a stronger relationship with games than most people, feel as though the industry is becoming more and more saturated with the same kinds of experiences. This is because, of course, they make the most money, and in an industry where financial success is incredibly difficult due to high-cost production, taking large risks could mean the death of an entire studio.



 Publishers like EA also form umbrellas for smaller studios, which is where more high-risk ventures can be embarked upon. Although a massive amount of market research is done into these fields, mobile gaming is a finicky situation. Games on such devices are played by numbers of people that blow the biggest triple-A title playerbases out of the water, but the way that people pay for these experiences are changing. Less than paying for an individual product, users now pay for various micro-transactions and in-app purchases to enhance their experience. This is a change to a system which has remained fundamentally the same for the entire history of the gaming world- pay for a product, get a product.

With all that said, there is still room for innovation in the industry- and that comes through how easy it is to make games when compared to 10 years ago. Now, there is a real focus on making software both usable and inexpensive enough for smaller developers, with licensed engines and community platforms like Steam Greenlight, creating your own game has never been easier. This is where a lot of big risks come in terms of gameplay, because production values for an indie studio are usually much lower than for their AAA cousins. To set themselves apart, indie developers must find unique ways of challenging the medium or creating something special for gamers to experience.

http://media.edge-online.com/wp-content/uploads/edgeonline/2013/04/EALogoBlack.png
http://www.dw.de/gaming-industry-changes-dramatically/a-16499688
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/square-enix-game-industry-undergoing-major-changes/1100-6417537/
http://www.penny-arcade.com/report/article/relax-the-game-industry-isnt-imploding...mostly