STRENGTHS:
The games industry is growing at a phenomenal pace. During the each of the last
two years, with new consoles entering the market, worldwide growth was in
excess of 16 percent per year. The Nintendo Wii is exceeding all expectations
and selling into an expanded demographic, bringing many new gamers into the
mix. Casual games are beginning to find their own significant market with many
companies dedicated to producing only these smaller, bite-sized offerings.
Finally, the success of massively multiplayer online games is driving
significant revenue through monthly subscription models.
WEAKNESSES:
There is not enough talent to feed all of the productions that are going on. It
appears that the entire games industry is in a major talent crunch. More and
more, artists are being pulled away from film pipelines and into games
production due to their experience and their ability to write specialized tools
for 3DS Max and Maya. There is also a shortage of good project managers who
have the ability to wrangle multi-disciplinary teams. With many current games
costing in excess of $10-15 million dollars to produce, these are not trivial
issues.
OPPORTUNITIES:
There are opportunities in games everywhere you turn. At the low-risk end there
are plenty of success stories from small studios who focus on casual games.
There are emerging opportunities in Xbox Live Arcade and mobile games. At the
riskier end, there are plenty of contracts to be secured for console titles,
though these generally are given to seasoned developers. Across all of these
areas, there are many opportunities for contractors and outsourced work. All
skill sets are in demand in games today.
THREATS:
The biggest problem facing the games business today is escaping its own
heritage. Traditionally, games have appealed to 18-35 year old males who have a
certain level of tolerance for violence and repetitive game play mechanics. In
order for games to expand their demographic and really become a mass-market
form of entertainment, developers and publishers will need to shake those roots
and embrace new genres and play styles. The Nintendo Wii is helping here
tremendously. Expect to see many other game-changing initiatives along these
lines in the next two to three years. If this does not happen, games have the
potential of never breaking out of the stereotype of being toys for teenage
boys.
OUTLOOK
2007: The future has never looked brighter for the games business. New,
powerful consoles are selling well into in the market. These systems, while
being very technical in nature, are empowering artists to realize ideas. We are
seeing many innovations that were not previously possible in games. New art
tools, new game mechanics, and new increased demographics are driving a
renaissance in the games industry.
Michel Kripalani oversees aspects of Autodesk 3DS Max, Maya, MotionBuilder and Mudbox representing the games industry. A veteran of the videogame industry, he founded Presto Studios in 1991, which produced The Journeyman Project series, Myst 3: Exile, Whacked!, and many other successful games.