A Rant on Episodic Content - Page 1 of 2

A Rant on Episodic Content

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Is this a welcome trend? I say it's inevitable, and a great way for developers to reduce risk.

Episodic content. It's the latest buzzword in the gaming industry. Everyone seems to be getting in on it, from the big boys (Valve/Half-Life 2 Episodes) to the little guys (Telltale Games/Sam & Max and Bone, Hothead Games/Penny Arcade game). Is this a welcome trend? I say it's inevitable. With budgets soaring ($1 million minimum to make a decent game?), it's only natural that developers and especially publishers will do all they can to minimize risk. If you spend $100 million and years of manhours to create a gigantic epic game that flops, it's pure loss. If it succeeds, you'll be lucky to earn back the cost through retail sales.

A lot of my thoughts are inspired by the CEO of Telltale games. As he explained it to me at PAX, games are currently produced using the Movie model. The difference is that Movies have several revenue streams. First there's the box-office take, then VHS/DVD sales, possibly even licencing for TV broadcast. A movie that flops at the box office can still make a profit with DVD sales. Heck, that's how all Uwe Boll's movies prior to Bloodrayne actually earned him a profit. The problem for games is they have only one revenue stream; retail sale. If a game fails at retail, there is no second chance. That's why the TV model makes more sense.

Bone: The Great Cow Race used episodic content delivery and was quite a sales success.

In TV, the cost of production (and thus, the risk) is spread out over multiple episodes. A whole season of a TV show might cost the same as a blockbuster movie, and in the end you get a lot more content for each dollar spent. Conversely, if a show proves to be particularly unpopular, it can be killed off anytime for a minimal loss (compared to a movie that flops). Of course, there are tradeoffs. The production values are generally lower for television, due to smaller budgets. I'm thinking particularly of action sequences, which usually tend to look pretty cheesy in TV shows, compared to movies.

On the upside, television allows for tweaking to please the fans and producers. Unpopular characters/story arcs can be killed off, and popular characters given more screen time. In a way, a television show is a work in progress, with the audience having some measure of creative control.

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