The former PlayStation exec and Streamline Media Group discuss gaming's 'third epoch'
At Gamelab last year , Shawn Layden grabbed headlines for calling out the spiralling costs of game development. Although much was made of his suggestion that games should be smaller (or more expensive), his concerns are rooted in the reality that for all the revenue growth seen in the console space, audience growth remains elusive. The number of people who own consoles today is broadly the same as it was in the late 1990s, around 240 to 260 million people. "We're just getting people in the gaming world to spend more money," Layden tells us in an interview following his appointment to Streamline Media Group's advisory board . He continues: "With each console generation, the cost of games goes up 2x. So PS4 games were $100 to $150m, so it stands to reason that PS5 games -- when they hit their stride -- will be in excess of $200m. It's going to be very difficult for more than a handful of large players to compete in that space. Shawn Layden
"During that time we have also seen more consolidation. Consolidation is the enemy of diversity in some ways. It takes a lot of playing pieces off the table as they grow into these larger conglomerates. And again, we end up with this problem with diversity. "Music on a revenue basis is probably one fifth of the games space. But their cultural impact is 100x what gaming is. Right now, we are narrowing ourselves down into genres and sequels and certain types of games. Favourites like my own, like Parappa and Vib-Ribbon, those things don't seem to get a chance to come out on stage. That's bad for the industry and for fans. Over time, that leads to a crumbling of the games industry if we just keep talking to the same people and telling the same stories in the same way. "I was interested in Streamline because it has spent almost the entire of its 20 years with a remote distributed development model. They speak 27 different languages throughout their studios and have people from 47 different countries. It is an incredibly multi-cultural workforce, and that is where the future of breaking gaming into a wider audience beyond the 240 to 260 million. "Music on a revenue basis is probably one fifth of the games space. But their cultural impact is 100x what gaming is"
Shawn Layden
"Of course, if you add in mobile phones you get to hundreds of millions of players. But those are related but distinct categories. We've learned over time that mobile gaming isn't necessarily a gateway into console, but just a different thing for people to do at a different time of the day. "So this industry is ripe for disruption, and some of us better get on that." It seems to Layden that this is more than just making sure the games industry grows financially. Shortly after his Gamelab talk, certain games publishers raised the price of their video games for the first time in two generations. But this doesn't solve the problem, Layden explains. "But even that, it doesn't match the rate of inflation over the last 20 years. It helps, but not enough. And not enough to open up doors for new talent to come in. Again, the entrenched players are holding on to their market and trying to extract a little bit more value out of it. It doesn't solve the problem." It's these big opportunities and challenges that has drawn Layden to Streamline Media. The group is part-developer, part-services business, offering art, code, QA and localisation and technology to other studios, whilst also creating its own games. But it believes the future for the video games industry is beyond entertainment. Last year, the company teamed up with fashion brand Balenciaga to create a virtual experience to demonstrate its Fall 2021 line-up. Steamline CEO Alexander Fernandez says this highlights how non-games businesses are realising the power of video games and its technology in a post-pandemic world. "It's important to remember that what we do as an industry is a suspension of disbelief that is layered in a technology, design and creativity," he tells us. "But it is also applicable in building communities and scaling up opportunities for other industries that absolutely need to learn from games. We've been able to successfully grow massive communities that are loyal to whatever we're telling. Those other industries are coming in and saying they want to learn how to do this, and leverage that stuff, create that stickiness and that engagement level, which will be necessary for the transformation of their own industries. Alexander Fernandez
"That digital transformation that is taking place in many industries around the world, that runs straight to the heart of video games. We just need to realise that business, and that is something that will grow the reach of our industry, but also the possibility of job creation, talent creation and career growth." It's not all about brands using games to sell more clothing, either. "The other part of it is going on in educational. You can learn about Egypt through a game. Like with Assassin's Creed. But also looking at simulations and training. What is a flight simulator except a very expensive video game? Or it's surgeon training from LevelX. The FDA just approved the first game for ADHD. Think about it, gaming for ADHD certified therapeutic, literally from a pharmaceutical company and a video games company. "So when I talk about metaverse, I'm talking about us realising that we have this tech, and this understanding that really is the melding of art, science, psychology, design... what if we applied this to all the different problems that we have as society, our businesses can literally touch all of humanity." "Web 3.0 is a video game. So ultimately our industry needs to steer ourselves towards that." Alexander Fernandez, Streamline
He continues: "It's no wonder Zuckerberg says Facebook is going to become a metaverse company. He's not saying that because he's crazy, he's saying that because he understands that's where all the eyeballs is going. That's web 3.0. Web 3.0 is a video game. So ultimately our industry needs to steer ourselves towards that." It's here that Fernandez hopes to find the talent of the future. He says that many AAA studios are simply looking for mid- to senior-level people and isn't doing enough to skill-up the talent of tomorrow. But by going beyond entertainment, it offers new opportunities for people to come in and grow, without having to fight their way onto a risky high-end AAA game. The Balenciaga game experience is an example of where games can go
Fernandez and Layden are talking specifically about the AAA console market. But what about the indie scene? These developers aren't spending years and years making $150 million sequels. There are diverse indies making unique products and offering a way into the industry that doesn't require working at Naughty Dog or Rockstar. Fernandez says that indie can be a way in, although there must be a commitment to upscaling staff and growing. Whereas Layden feels the indie space faces unique threats. "The independent developer is the constant chase for funding. That's so all-consuming. It's become even harder now. On the one hand, the overall budgets for games are no longer in the $15,000 range. They require some serious capital. And the indies are going out there looking for that funding, and the ones who have real promise are just being bought out and sucked into a larger vortex filled with studios sitting under a larger hat. "Or they're being told things like: 'why don't you start a GoFundMe, and you can get a certain amount of money, and then come back and we'll look again'. The leverage is so disproportionately in the publishing side of the business, that the creative side doesn't have the chance to move its vision forward without coming into some form of financial agreement, or trying to do something underfunded and working like crazy to then be told 'we're not interested'. And then the whole thing just crashes and burns. "[Consolidation] takes the variety out of the marketplace. That's my fear. And over time, that is going to make the industry moribund
Shawn Layden
"So how do we create an entry way for bona fide talent, interesting people, who wish to break into interactive entertainment, but don't have the ability to surmount that giant financial hurdle? And it's getting higher and higher all the time. And the creator's ability to influence that outcome is becoming weaker and weaker." This goes back to what Layden was saying about the consolidation in the games industry being the enemy of diversity. Considering the high number of mergers and acquisitions, is he concerned about where this activity takes the business? "Consolidation, from a bank ledger side of the calculation, makes sense," Layden acknowledges. "Grab up all the resources so the other guy doesn't get it and put them to task on the thing that you want to have done. But it takes the variety out of the marketplace. That's my fear. And over time, that is going to make the industry moribund, and it's going to create a world of sameness. "For us to grow the audience for gaming, we have to go where they are. We've been here 25 years, they know where we are, and they haven't come yet. And there's a reason. We need to discover and interrogate that reason. "Why is this something you don't want to spend your time doing? Is it the fact the controller is this piece of plastic with 23 buttons on it and you're just intimidated by the look of it? Or is it the context of the games we have? Is it just not appealing to other people? When you lose the variety, you lose the ability to go to where people are and to engage them. And then you're in your closed cathedral that will ultimately collapse in on itself." Layden comments on the size of the console market reflect that of Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who believes things like [subscription service] Game Pass and [streaming technology] xCloud will enable the console games industry to go beyond that 250 million number. But Layden is sceptical. "People don't buy consoles because they want more steel and plastic in the living room. People buy consoles because they want access to the content. If you can find a way to get the content into people's homes without a box, then yes, indeed. Everyone has a streaming solution of some form. Most of it is limited by whether you have a decent internet connection. And they haven't constructed the business model that works yet for that. "It's very hard to launch a $120m game on a subscription service charging $9.99 a month. You pencil it out, you're going to have to have 500 million subscribers before you start to recoup your investment. That's why right now you need to take a loss-leading position to try to grow that base. But still, if you have only 250 million consoles out there, you're not going to get to half a billion subscribers. So how do you circle that square? Nobody has figured that out yet." So what is the answer? It comes back to diversity. "Gaming is reaching the end of its second epoch, which was the last 25 to 30 years of consoles everywhere," Layden concludes. "What is that third epoch? Who is going to make the definitions around that? Who is going to lead this thing? Our industry as a whole has to get in front of that. I'm sure there are concerns about who sold more boxes last week and all that, and companies need to look at that because they're businesses. But those of us who can chart the course for that third epoch, I think that's an exciting thing to be part of. "But going forward, you're going to see a lot of stuff coming out of Streamline in the games space, but also in this enterprise space. It's also looking at ways of how we can help on-ramp new creatives and people who think that gaming is not for them. Or wish to be here but can't be here. We need to open up those opportunities. It is super important." Level up your career

Shawn Layden: Consolidation is the enemy of diversity

A Gamelab panel explored modern publisher relationships, and how to make sure you're choosing the right partner
Publishers have changed. The roads to publishing a game have evolved drastically in the past decade, and the market is more fragmented than ever. Due to the increasing number of publishers in the indie scene, the balance of power has shifted and the opportunities are now very favourable to developers. During the Gamelab Live conference last week, a panel of experts explored the notion of the "modern publisher" and what developers should know about working with one in this day and age. The talk, moderated by Tequila Works' publishing director Térence Mosca, featured Devolver Digital's Nigel Lowrie, Kowloon Nights' Samuel Lee, Team17's Debbie Bestwick and Humble Games' Eduardo Aparicio. They explored what publishers look for in a developer, the different ways to approach funding, and the dangers of signing a deal too early, but also the flexibility of modern publishers and how you should look for one that can complement the skills present in your studio. All the Gamelab talks, including this one, will be on the conference's YouTube channel within the next week or so, so keep an eye out for them. A publisher should complement your skills
The panel highlighted the backbone of the discussion very early on: publishers and developers now tend to build long lasting relationships, as opposed to the traditional model that would see one game published before moving on to the next studio. This means finding the right partner is now more crucial than ever for a developer. "Each publisher or partner here has their own superpower in a way," said Humble Games' vice president of publishing Eduardo Aparicio. "They have something that maybe they're especially good at and they can partner especially well with developers on. Team17 has an amazing development team that can really help a studio that needs that extra bandwidth. It's really about trying to complement [the developers'] skills and the things that the teams that we're working with have or don't have. "It's about trying to complement the skills that the teams that we're working with have or don't have." Eduardo Aparicio, Humble Bundle
"For us, we're fairly involved on the production side -- not in an obstructive way, but just in trying to help developers [who] don't have as much experience with project management. But every partner is different. It's about filling those gaps and listening to what [the developer] actually needs." Kowloon Nights is a funding partner, not a publisher, so COO Samuel Lee pointed out that before signing up with such a partner, you need to be sure that it's what your studio needs. "We don't do publishing, so the developers will be self-publishing in most of the cases," Lee said. "We let them handle those things and when they need help we're here to support them. When they need to find localisation, QA, or a marketing agency, we have existing contacts that we can introduce them to, but if they're perfectly comfortable doing it themselves, we just check with them periodically. We don't interfere when they know what they're doing and they've done it before. "We have turned down games that we really liked because we knew that they would require a lot of hand holding when it comes to releasing the game. So for those cases, you're much better off working with a Team17, Devolver, [or] Humble, which will provide more support." Thunder Lotus' Spiritfarer was funded by Kowloon Nights
What publishing partners have to offer is now more flexible than ever, and developers should be able to find a partner that covers their needs precisely. But while the balance of power has shifted, leaving developers with more leeway, studios need to remember that it is very much a relationship and it shouldn't be one-sided. "You want to be able to have input on all facets, but you need to trust your partner too"
Nigel Lowrie, Devolver Digital
"Just finding that person that's going to work with you, in collaboration with you, is important," said Devolver Digital's co-founder Nigel Lowrie. "Your studio has people who can do things really well, but find a partner to work with you that supplement that -- [whether] that's marketing, production, localisation, gameplay, testing, whatever it is. It's your game, it's your IP. You want to be able to have input on all facets of it, but you need to trust your partner that they're making the right decision too. "I had an argument yesterday because I hated the key art that the developer came up with -- I told them I hated it, they understood. They hate the idea that I had for a trailer, but that's okay. It's important to be able to voice that, and that no one is sitting there staring at key art that they hate or a trailer that they hate. Go back to the drawing board together, figure it out." Understand what a good deal means for you and don't say yes too early
The Gamelab speakers mainly focused on the financial aspects -- funding has also evolved drastically and is more varied than ever. "Because there are so many sources where you can get money now, you should really explore them as much as you can"
Samuel Lee, Kowloon Nights
"There are a lot of ways to get money for your game nowadays -- a lot more than there were two years ago and definitely more than five years ago," Aparicio said. "You don't really need a publisher to get funded -- you could get money from platforms, you can get money from venture capitalists, you could get money from certain governments. There are a lot of sources. "The key thing with all of those is understanding what those options are and understanding what is a good deal and what isn't. So it's always good if you are evaluating different options, be it from a publisher, or be it from a platform. Just make sure that you talk with as many people as possible to understand where those terms are falling, and the asks that you're receiving in comparison to what is being given to you. To make sure that you are not putting yourself in a position that, in the long run, could potentially be bad for your team or for your games." Ultimately it's about making sure the offer you get actually matches what you're looking for as a studio, not only now, but in the long run. Moonlight Kids' The Wild at Heart will be published by Humble Games
"It's not just the money to operate your studio and to make this game," Lowrie pointed out. "What else are you gonna get out of it? If you're signing up for that platform now, project [yourself]: what hooks and what stipulations are in there that are gonna affect your game three years from now? "If you're signing for exclusivity now for a game that comes three years from now, what does that mean? What will that platform look like in three years? Do you have confidence in that platform? Do you have confidence in that publisher? It's not a simple exchange at the moment, it's an exchange that's gonna last three, four, maybe ten years down the line." That's why you shouldn't jump on the first opportunity you get without exploring all the funding routes available. "Because there are so many sources where you can get money now, you should really explore them as much as you can," Lee said. "A few times we've come across developers where I think they signed a deal too early. They got one offer, they didn't want to keep bothering, and so they just stopped there." Panel host Térence Mosca highlighted the chicken and egg situation here: as a developer you always want the best deal, but at same time you need to finance your development and cannot always wait. Fall Guys, developed by Mediatonic and to be published by Devolver Digital
"You could actually be leaving a lot of money on the table by not allowing the game to grow and develop as it should do before you take it out to those platforms," Team17 CEO Debbie Bestwick said. "Sometimes games have been signed up on the back of a gif or something on social media, [but] the game actually is not even fully fleshed out. Bestwick recalled her first encounter with Chris Davis, the developer of The Escapists, who ended up signing with Team17 as publisher. When they first met, she asked about how you actually escape in the game -- a reasonable question since it is The Escapists after all. "You could be leaving money on the table by not allowing the game to grow as it should before you take it to those platforms"
Debbie Bestwick, Team17
Davis hadn't figured it out yet, so Team17 provided a team of designers to help him. The game was also initially made in Clickteam Fusion, which wouldn't have worked for a multiplatform release, so it had to be rewritten. "Had they had signed with a platform, I doubt that game would have ever been released," she continued. "He would have really struggled to actually ever execute that game and bring it to market in the way that it was, because there were so many important decisions that still needed to be made." All the publishers on the panel had horror stories of developers making wrong decisions and struggling to recover, with Lowrie mentioning he's had to decline working with games because they were platform restricted, for instance. So whether you sign with a funding partner, a platform or a publisher, just make sure you're not rushing that decision. Mouldy Toof Studios and Team17's The Escapists
Remember that everything is up for negotiation
Publishing has historically been very milestone-driven, with payments sent at various breakthrough moments during development. This is not the case any more, and contracts are now much more flexible. "Basically, everything is up for negotiation these days when you're negotiating a contract," Aparicio explained. "That doesn't mean that you'll see like ludicrous contracts that don't make sense, but it means that one thing can give and the other one can take -- there's always ways to adjust things so that developers are happy with the outcome. "One of the things that comes with having so many great publishers nowadays is that we also have to be flexible if we want to survive as publishers. So that's in the benefit of the developers. I've seen basically almost any term you can imagine being negotiated and that's totally fine. Again, as always, you have to understand that if you're taking from somewhere, you're going to have to give somewhere else, you can't just take. But it's the same for the publisher side." "We also have to be flexible if we want to survive as publishers"
Eduardo Aparicio, Humble Bundle
Kowloon Nights focuses solely on the funding so by default the company is quite flexible, Lee explained. As the development progresses, a game may need more funding and that's something a partner should understand. "We define the payment schedule on the contract but those are more just deliverables," Lee said. "It's more mental checkpoints, so they're not what we traditionally understand as milestones. "Very often, especially the last few months due to COVID, things are delayed and we understand it. As games go on, sometimes they get bigger, so they get more funding, and we're prepared to do that. We've done that for a few games already, where the game [is being shown] to the public and it gets good reception, so we are also more open to give more funding to make the game better." This once again highlights the necessity to find the right partner for your game from the beginning. "I think at the bottom of all of this is that the people on this panel are established, well-known partners," Lowrie said. "It's the same reason why you're going to buy a certain brand at a grocery store: because you know about the consistent quality, and it's going to be there. So you probably can do your homework on every one of us, and some other partners, to understand what people's experiences have been like in the past. "Talk to other developers they've worked with. Have they been very strict with milestones? Have they delayed payments for any reason? Because there are a lot of great publishers out there, but there's also publicly a lot of bad ones. You need to understand that it's a relationship like anything else."

How to navigate the modern world of games publishing

Microsoft is releasing a brand new Xbox this 12 months with the Xbox Series X , and whereas the graphics will certainly look higher than current-gen video games, the soar in visuals won’t be as pronounced as earlier than within the final console transition. Xbox boss Phil Spencer spoke about this throughout a Gamelab interview. Whereas the rise in visuals won’t be as instantly identifiable with Xbox Collection X in comparison with Xbox One, Spencer stated next-generation video games will really feel extra “immersive” due to the facility of the Collection X. “I feel we’re at some extent now–with immersion, with the instruments we now have and the compute capability–that the deltas shall be smaller from a visible impression, or that characteristic X was by no means attainable earlier than and now it’s,” Spencer stated, as reported by GI.biz . “And that may sound miserable to some, however what I’d say is the benefit facet of what I am seeing now could be actually the immersive nature of the content material that is getting created.”
The Xbox Collection X (and the PS5, for that matter) will use its expanded horsepower to enhance load occasions and body charges, Spencer stated. “We’re capable of get to virtually lifelike graphics right this moment, even on current-gen in sure cases,” Spencer stated. “However whenever you take that and also you combine it with a really excessive body price, stable body price, little or no latency in enter, and the flexibility for recreation storytellers to essentially push the emotion and the story they’re making an attempt to get by way of their recreation, by way of the display screen, by way of the controller and into you? That’s one thing I am feeling within the video games now that may be a dramatic step up.”
Spencer stated next-generation video games that leverage this new know-how shall be able to reaching “much more feeling and impression.”
The Xbox Collection X releases this vacation with Halo Infinite as a launch title. Microsoft will launch extra particulars on Halo Infinite and the corporate’s different upcoming exclusives during an event in July. Dimension:

Xbox Series X Isn’t Only About Better Graphics, Phil Spencer Says

Talking with Gamelab , Spencer says shorter load instances and better body charges enabled by the Xbox Sequence X will likely be a major enchancment to the standard of next-gen video games in contrast with these on present consoles. He says that whereas “lifelike” graphics could be achieved on current-gen consoles (in some instances), increased body charges with little or no latency enter will allow devs to “push the emotion and the story they’re attempting to get by means of their sport, by means of the display screen, by means of the controller and into you.” 
“I feel we’re at a degree now – with immersion, with the instruments we’ve got and the compute functionality – that the deltas will likely be smaller from a visible affect, or that function X was by no means potential earlier than and now it’s,” Spencer mentioned. “And that may sound miserable to some, however what I might say is the benefit facet of what I am seeing now’s actually the immersive nature of the content material that is getting created.”
From a technical perspective, there isn’t any query the Xbox Sequence X is a step up from even the Xbox One X. The brand new console drives 12 teraflops of energy and is ready to play video games at 120 frames per second. It additionally has a blisteringly quick SSD that ought to cut back load instances and downloads. And but, we nonetheless have our reservations in regards to the new console. Greater body charges are nice however solely when you have a show that may sustain. Most TVs offered immediately, even the priciest ones, high out at 30 frames per second, that means the overwhelming majority of players will not profit from the brand new {hardware}. The parents at Polygon already broke down the likelihood that you simply’d want to purchase a brand new TV to get essentially the most out of a next-gen console. Then there are the video games. Whereas PS5’s video games reveal was largely profitable, what Xbox has proven us to this point has been…disappointing. The corporate has one other main unique video games reveal set for July the place we anticipate to see extra of Halo Infinite. It’ll want a robust present if it has any hopes of gaining floor on Sony and the PS5. Right now’s greatest Microsoft Xbox One X offers
MICROSOFT Xbox One X White…
Microsoft Xbox One X Restricted…

Xbox Series X will be a ‘dramatic step up’ — here’s how

That’s according to Phil Spencer, Xbox games boss, speaking at GameLab yesterday. Microsoft has trialled the Xbox All Access service in a small capacity already , allowing users to pay a monthly fee for two years and get the console, Xbox Live Gold, controller and Xbox Games Pass without having to shell out hundreds of dollars in one go. This service, similar to a mobile phone contract, could be key to getting a high-end next-gen console in homes regardless of its stand alone price on release. Neither the Xbox Series X or Sony’s PS5 have prices attached to them ahead of launching later this year . “Xbox All Access is going to be critical to both our launch for Xbox Series X as well as just the overall generation,” said Spencer, according to GamesIndustry.biz . “The response that we’ve seen where we’ve tested All Access has been great, but as you said, it’s been limited in terms of the market. So you’re going to see a much broader market and retailer support for All Access. And as you said, it matches a model customers use for many other devices they buy. And if you have services attached to those devices that people love, it just becomes an easier way to bring a great product to customers.”
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Xbox hardware subscription service “critical” for the launch of Xbox Series X, says Spencer

Priceline Pharmacy

Kupon Vilag Kft

Gaming companies are defined as those developing technologies for the PC, console, mobile, and/or AR/VR video gaming market.

Gaming

Acquired

Gamelab is a game development company that specializes in single and multiplayer online games. The company also offers downloadable games, Web games, board games, card games, conference games, and non-digital games.

Name	Istvan Kolbert
Work History	Priceline Pharmacy, and Kupon Vilag Kft
Title	Chief Executive Officer
Status	Former

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