Indie Studio Head Thinks Big Publisher Arrogance Is Harming Game Development

Summary

• Big publishers' arrogance leads to ballooning costs and layoffs in game development.
• Rocket Panda Games' CEO criticizes big companies for their arrogance and inefficiently allocating money.
• McNamara attributes overspending on Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate to developing for multiple platforms and feature-creeping.

2024 has been another great year for games, but another horrendous year for game developers and development.

Ballooning costs and unrealistic development times have led to an unprecedented number of layoffs, with Bungie, Microsoft, Epic Games, and Rocksteady beingsome of the biggest offenders.

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These layoffs have caused major frustration in the industry, with one indie developer telling TheGamer that "a lot of it comes down to arrogance from the big publishers."

"Oh, We'll Just Throw More Money At It"

In an exclusive interview with TheGamer at Tokyo Game Show, Rocket Panda Games' CEO Mike McNamara shared his "biggest beef with a lot of how the industry has gone.”

McNamara said, "There was a period where you could do no wrong. During COVID, there was all kinds of fresh money flooding into the industry. And the companies thought, 'Oh, instead of making ten small games, let's just go all in on one," adding, “I think a lot of it comes down to arrogance from the big publishers." He accused companies of "throwing more money at their games, thinking it would make them bigger and better."

"I don't know where these decisions happen, on what level of the corporate structure, but there was definitely some not good direction in the game itself," he told me, saying companies didn't "deploy their money intelligently," and that he doesn't believe "all of the money being spent and diverted in certain ways is really in the interest of the player.“

McNamara admitted his company massively exceeded its budget on Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds Ultimate, but he said he was always "very mindful," ensuring the money was being spent on features he felt the game needed.

He attributed Rocket Panda Games' overspending on the costs of developing for multiple platforms, the fact that "Unreal Engine actually sucks," and the dreaded 'feature-creeping'.

Our full, insightful interview with McNamara is live now and can be read right here.

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