Last week, Jon Bailes from Gamesindustry.biz published an article with quotes from a handful of independent sports game developers and business folks discussing how sports games have changed in recent generations, and how some of these smaller developers are making sports games work for them now. Featured within the article are folks involved in Super Mega Baseball 3, AO Tennis 2 and Active Soccer.
It’s a worthwhile read to just get perspective from various levels of game development. From those in the trenches to those making the business decisions, everyone seems aligned on there being growth and a chance to succeed in this area. However, there are still questions about how that growth comes to fruition, and some feelings of stagnation in the process of getting there. Talks about licensing also come up and are some of the most interesting aspects of the article.
This is a topic I genuinely care about because it feels like almost everyone I know is playing Super Mega Baseball 3 right now, and Lonely Mountains: Downhill was my favorite sports game last year. Here’s to hoping independent developers continue to create new sports experiences and succeed with them because they’re making some of my favorite games right now.
