We've heard before about not needing a publisher any more when Kixeye's Will Harbin took the stage at Casual Connect and started decrying his own position, suggesting that the status of the industry was shifting in such a direction that a publisher really wasn't necessary any more. But now, Harbin is joined by a rather unexpected source in Xbox co-creator Ed Fries, who offered up an interview with “The Daily A-List” about the future of big-time publishers.
Fries examines the issues of digital distribution, of physical distribution and beyond in framing his response, suggesting that the age of big publishers may be on the outs as games can be had more readily via download than ever. “Walmart didn't want to deal with a hundred companies,” said Fries, “they wanted to deal with four or five.”
Given that Fries is currently an advisor for the Ouya gaming platform, it might require his words to be taken with an appropriate grain of salt, though considering that he's scarcely alone in saying this, there may well be a movement after all. Though Fries does somewhat gloss over other issues, like connectivity in rural settings that will preclude a purely digital delivery system, the fact of the matter is that a lot more downloading of games is going on, and some games will never be found in a brick-and-mortar store.
The recent moves seen in the console gaming space are also pointing to a future with more indie developers. Xbox One is setting itself up as a huge boon to indies, making every console usable as a testing tool and opening up a self-publishing option. Nintendo is courting indies with a focus on Unity and HTML5. The consoles are opening the floodgates, and who knows what may arrive as a result?
Yet the big publishers will likely still have a future for one important reason: resources. Consider a game like “State of Decay” against “Grand Theft Auto V”. While “State of Decay” was awesome beyond all reckoning, when stacked against “Grand Theft Auto V,” it's almost a mini-game in comparison. Games like these require huge numbers of programmers working for years, and sufficient cash to keep such a venture afloat. That means deep pockets, and big publishers.
To suggest that no one needs a game publisher any more is somewhat accurate. No one really needs one; self-publishing has never been more of an option. But to really crank out an amazing, deep, powerful piece of work, that's going to be where the publishers can shine by bankrolling the kind of multi-month—multi-year, even—project that will be required to really put out something amazing. Look at the time difference between the last two Grand Theft Auto games; that's all that really needs to be said.
The role of the publisher is likely not going away so much as it is changing, and though it may not be recognizable from its current role in a couple years, it's likely to never really fade away.
