[GDC'12] Capybara boss believes indie developers should chase innovation, not Rovio

[GDC'12] Capybara boss believes indie developers should chase innovation, not Rovio
You know Swords & Sworcery? Yeah, it was a pretty intriguing and interesting game that really sinks its teeth into some original bits and pieces. Nathan Vella, co-founder of Capybara Games, has issued a warning to indie developers to purse innovation instead of Rovio. He warns that attempting to make a blockbuster that has mass appeal not only limits originality but also can prove damaging to finances and reputation.

Vella goes on to discuss how scary it is that the "massive success of the iOS platform is that it has taught developers that they should try and make games for everyone." He acknowledges that the obvious choice is to make a game like Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope because they sold 10 or 20 million copies but he believes it is a terrible business decision. Every day I log onto the App Store and am completely disheartened to see what makes it into the top downloads section.

Details emerged that Swords & Sworcery has recently moved beyond 350,000 copies sold, Vella informed GDC attendees that this was not because it was developed for mass appeal but because it was laser-targeted directly at a very particular audience.

"Everyone wants to make a million-selling game, and that's cool, but the problem with the hit-based mentality is it puts you in direct competition with all the other people who have the same hit-based mentality - the people who aren't creative enough to make a unique game, and the people who aren't willing to take the risk to make something that actually has a soul, or is fresh, or flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

"Internally at Capy we talk a lot about playing the iPhone lottery - basically that's what happens when you try to compete against everyone who is trying to do the same thing.

"You're trying to make the next Angry Birds, so what you're doing is basically walking up to a slot machine, putting the budget of your game into the slot, pulling the lever and praying to God that you get three f****** cherries. In reality, one in 10,000 maybe do okay - I don't know the odds."

Nathan Vella believes that the key to making your mark on the App Store (which recently surpassed 25 billion downloads) is individuality, charm and a particular understanding of your audience. These aspects , he believes, cannot be achieved with such a scattergun approach. He emphasises the need for your game to stand out, because digital platforms are a vast ocean and every time the tide rises there is another 10,000 more to compete against.

"There's a subset of gamers who want to play something new. If you provide them with something worth playing you're not actually competing against 99 per cent of the market. You're competing with the one per cent. Sure, you might not reach the biggest slice of the money pie but you're ensuring your project has a really good chance of being successful."

What do you think? Do you believe Nathan Vella has a point? The Angry Birds craze has been quite astounding, I hold a strong disdain towards the franchise but at the same time I can understand why people enjoy it so much and why so many iOS developers try to duplicate its success.

Written by: Kyran Morrison

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