I had the privilege of attending the DICE Summit in late February in Las Vegas. It is a somewhat exclusive event for game industry high-rollers hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS). I was curious as to what the vibe was going to be like, and to gage it is as a quick temperature read as to how GDC may turn out in a few weeks.Surprisingly, folks were quite upbeat. One agent, repping AAA titles/developers, said that they are still insanely busy meeting the demands of the publishers. Hinting that there will always be a demand for top quality games and talent. Nice.
Though, EA’s CEO John Riccitiello gave a somewhat sobering talk on tactics for tough times. Wow, he looked tired up on stage…
In fact, it seemed like it was business as usual for most attendees. Doing deals, lining up content, etc. Several stated that the current tough economy was serving as a good excuse for companies to trim fat/waste. Others noted that the massive profits from past years mainly just hid all the inefficient processes and bad decisions of the past. Meaning, business is still good, but we need to be a lot smarter about it now.
Despite the overall business as usual vibe, there were a few heretics discussing new models and approaches to the business. Gabe Newell’s opening keynote on Valve’s move to a service model of entertainment was particularly enlightening and inspiring. Gabe easily demonstrated the benefit of taking a more proactive –and direct – role in engaging with your customers instead of relying on intermediaries. Industry veteran/guru David Perry also had a lot to say about the move away from single-player games as the norm and the future of the free-2-play model.
Gamasutra has a nice round-up of the sessions.
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