Quoteworthy: Notch Knocks "Indie" EA

Neil79 · 3 May 2012 at 23:37

Markus Persson's Twitter has strong reactions from Mojang's Markus 'Notch' Persson to the oddity of the EA Indie Bundle on Steam, as it would be a stretch to refer to anything related to the giant Electronic Arts as "indie" (in the same stretch of tweets he objects to even calling Mojang an "indie"). Beginning by saying: "EA releases an 'indie bundle'? That's not how that works, EA.

Stop attempting to ruin everything, you bunch of cynical ****," he follows with "Indies are saving gaming. EA is methodically destroying it." He caps this off with a clarification of what he's faulting here: "I got into trouble on the interwebs again! The games in the bundle are good, I'm not questioning them. I'm questioning EA."

valkynaz · 3 May 2012 at 23:57

To be honest I don't see what the fuss is about. EA is selling a collection of indie games under the title of "indie bundle".

Is everyone just butthurt because it isn't a pay as you want scheme?

Neil79 · 3 May 2012 at 23:59

Or annoyed that it's EA stepping on some toes

PGdude · 4 May 2012 at 00:05

From Wiki:

"Independent video games (commonly referred to as indie games) are video games created by individuals or small teams without video game publisher financial support. Indie games often focus on innovation and rely on digital distribution. Indie gaming has seen a rise in the last few years, primarily due to new online distribution methods and development tools."

Sounds about right. And that EA might be in the wrong.

Cutshaw · 4 May 2012 at 00:06

Yeah, well a purist black and white take on things is rarely very interesting. The games were developed independently outside of EA and with no money from EA. Does EA selling them erase the nature of their development or street cred?

Fez, an indie darling, a storied development period with a few near disasters, being published by Microsoft, Minecraft, due on XBL very soon. Microsoft trumps EA.

ps I dislike EA with more passion than a grown up should, but blind rage or finger pointing is just as bad

Cutshaw · 4 May 2012 at 00:08

PGdude said:
financial support.

They are in the clear then. EA didn't fund these games.

Solz · 4 May 2012 at 00:18

cant stand EA after what they did with BF3

Boycey0211 · 4 May 2012 at 00:20

is EA taking a cut though? They must be if it has their name on it

Cutshaw · 4 May 2012 at 00:26

Boycey0211 said:
is EA taking a cut though? They must be if it has their name on it

They must be and people being concerned about giving EA money is totally understandable. If it was up to me, I would rather go to the developers direct, they get more money, EA get none.

Sin_Chase · 4 May 2012 at 00:50

So EA are advertising and pushing indie games out of the kindness of thier hearts?

Of course they are not. They are profiting from it somewhere along the line. As such these are not indie titles viz. it's not an indie bundle.

Cutshaw · 4 May 2012 at 00:52

Sin_Chase said:
So EA are advertising and pushing indie games out of the kindness of thier hearts?

Of course they are not. They are profiting from it somewhere along the line. As such these are not indie titles viz. it's not an indie bundle.

What is your take on Steam getting a cut from indie sales?

Sin_Chase · 4 May 2012 at 01:32

Cutshaw said:
What is your take on Steam getting a cut from indie sales?

I assume any 'cut' Steam takes is a distribution fee for the platform on indie titles. Indie developers approach Valve to use Steam platform, game goes live on Steam

EA does not distribute anything but their own titles. They are the publisher.

Take Trine for example. It's on steam but Frozenbytes are the Developer AND the Publisher. Steam takes a 'cut' for distribution fees. The only involved parties are Frozenbytes and Valve.

Every single game in the EA 'Indie' bundle is Published by EA. The involved parties are the Developer, EA and Steam. This is not an indie relationship.

PGdude · 4 May 2012 at 01:52

Cutshaw said:
ps I dislike EA with more passion than a grown up should, but blind rage or finger pointing is just as bad

I'd say the same about being wrong, too.

Cutshaw · 4 May 2012 at 03:04

Sin_Chase said:
Indie developers approach Valve to use Steam platform, game goes live on Steam

Indie developers approach EA for publishing, game is published by EA. The distribution, selling and advertising service is the technically same as Frozenbyte would get from Steam.

Fact is, the games were developed independently without funding, direction or input from EA and were shopped around, unfortunately to Electronic Arts.

The point of there being a publisher and Steam involved might be a mess, it might be convoluted and EA getting involved in the first place is absolutely questionable, but it doesn't make them EA games. EA had as much of a hand in the creation of Warp as Steam did Frozen Synapse.

I'm all for indie games, the main reason being there isn't some group of accountants breathing down the talent's neck and "streamlining", "broadening appeal", or "lowering the threshold". A smaller group with a vision that isn't watered down by big business. At least in that respect they are indie where it matters, where it actually effects the customer.

I just don't think it's as cut and dried as people would make out.

orderoftheflame · 4 May 2012 at 07:33

Cutshaw said:
What is your take on Steam getting a cut from indie sales?

I think there's a big difference between taking a cut as a publisher, and taking a cut as a simple distribution method. Games distributed by Steam can still have separate publishers or be self published.

Indie games are massively popular at the moment. EA have seen this and are trying to cash in on it, massively missing the point. Indie games shouldn't be produced under the pressure of a publisher that's crying to have a game done on time and for less money. Not having that pressure is what separates Indie games from the cookie cutter low risk titles churned out by some companies.

When it boils down to it... Whether they are or aren't Indie games, these are still all great games done by hard working developers. I know for a fact that Hothead put a lot of effort into Deathspank before EA even got a look in.

While I'm all against EA using the "Indie" branding(?) for a bundle to cash in on it's popularity, I can't hold anything against the developers and games, and loathed as I am to give EA a piece of my money... It's still a good price for those games.

arknor · 4 May 2012 at 08:20

publishers are distributers

Relentless81 · 4 May 2012 at 08:35

I think I know what he is annoyed at, its something that really irritates me too

When a buzzword becomes popular with everyone so it loses its meaning and corporations like EA start to use it in an attempt to get more sales

Shamikebab · 4 May 2012 at 08:39

Notch comes across as a right ****.

It's great that EA are supporting games like this. Honestly if they don't they get moaned at for creatign endless sequels. If they do they get moaned at for 'cashing in'.

orderoftheflame · 4 May 2012 at 08:43

arknor said:
publishers are distributers

You must know that they're far more than just distributors...

They have vested interest in the game, and many publishers will prod and poke developers to meet deadlines, make changes and reduce cost until a game is as profitable as possible to them, regardless of the developers vision.

It works for them, but it's decidedly un-Indie.

arknor · 4 May 2012 at 08:48

publishers only have a vested interest in a game if they funded it which is what most publishers do these days since theres very little to pc retail now.

but if they were developed independent of publisher funding they are still an indie game no matter who is handling the distribution