Asmongold: Indie Games Are Exposing AAA's Bloated, Useless Jobs

The Indie Game Revolution: Challenging AAA Bloat and "Deprofessionalization"

Indie games have emerged as a significant force, directly challenging the dominance of AAA publishers. This shift is driven by the ability of smaller, independent teams to create equally compelling, or even superior, games at a fraction of the cost. The speaker argues that the core reason for this disruption is the absence of corporate bloat and unnecessary layers of management. These streamlined indie studios are more efficient and focused, presenting a direct threat to the established AAA model's profitability.

The "Deprofessionalization" Narrative

The traditional gaming industry establishment is attempting to frame the rise of indie games as a "deprofessionalization" of the field. This narrative suggests that the success of small teams will lead to fewer roles in areas like marketing, HR, and middle management. The speaker argues this is simply a correction, eliminating useless jobs that add no value to the final product.

• The Real Threat: The success of indie developers highlights the inefficiency and bloat within AAA studios.

• Accountability: The speaker criticizes the AAA industry's lack of accountability, attributing it to deliberately complex organizational structures that diffuse blame.

• Marketing: There's no need for a large marketing team if the game itself is worth talking about.

Corporate Bloat: The Root of the Problem

The core issue isn't a lack of professionalism, but excessive corporate bloat. The speaker describes a form of "organizational and managerial entropy" that plagues large tech companies, where management layers multiply, leading to inefficiency. Redundant roles and unnecessary departments inflate budgets and complicate development pipelines. The speaker uses the example of Twitter and Meta to show how many employees they laid off without product changes.

• All-purpose developers are proving you don't need multiple departments to make people care about something.

• Unprofessional is defined as unwilling to work within the imagined confines.

The Media's Perspective: Control and Monetization

The speaker believes that media outlets are worried about how this affects them more than the industry. Indie games are harder to predict, harder to market, and much more difficult to monetize from the outside. This means no more demos behind closed doors and no more guaranteed preview cycles.

Reframing "Deprofessionalization" as Liberation

Rather than a decline in professionalism, the speaker views the indie movement as a liberation. It offers skilled professionals a chance to break free from bureaucratic systems and create something meaningful. Indie success is providing an alternative for talented individuals who were previously discarded or stifled by the AAA system.

• Job Preservation vs. Progress: The speaker vehemently opposes supporting bloated structures solely to preserve jobs. He argues that those who can't earn their keep shouldn't be paid.

• Reprofessionalization: The rise of the indie movement is a correction of overspecialization and creative stagnation.

The Democratization of Game Development

The indie boom is not excluding people, it is including people that AAA would have never hired in the first place. Average, everyday people are getting involved in industries and getting rich because of it. This democratization allows newcomers and seasoned veterans alike to pursue their creative visions without the constraints of the traditional system. The writer finds it troubling that few developers were working with teams larger than three people.

• Old System: The old system kept the gates locked, but the new era is tearing them down.

• Healing Process: This is a healing process, a long overdue correction of decades of bloat, overreach, and creative stagnation.

The Importance of Generalists and Adaptability

Small indie teams often require developers to wear multiple hats, combining roles like design, writing, and animation. The speaker emphasizes that this isn't dysfunction, but adaptability and smart resource management. This synthesis creates cohesion and purpose, leading to a more unified final product.

• The Problem with Overspecialization: The more segmented the roles, the more disjointed the final product will be. It makes everything take four times as long.

Shifting Priorities: Gameplay Over Graphics

AAA studios often prioritize visual fidelity and cinematic presentation over core gameplay mechanics. The speaker argues that this is a misguided approach, as players ultimately care about whether a game is fun and engaging. Indie developers are succeeding because they prioritize gameplay and performance, focusing on what truly matters to players.

• The speaker gives Ubisoft as an example: The first Assassin's Creed trilogy was made with around 150 developers. Now they have over a thousand people working on a single entry and every release gets further away from what made that series special.

The Future of Game Development: Leaner, More Agile Studios

The speaker believes that the future of game development lies in smaller, more agile studios. These teams can create innovative and engaging games without the baggage and inefficiencies of the AAA system. While large-scale projects will always exist, the industry is shifting towards a model that favors creativity, adaptability, and a focus on core gameplay. Indie is a threat to the old system, but is the path forward.

• Sustainable Growth: People are buying these games. They are selling and they're not just passion projects anymore. Many of them are growing into sustainable expanding studios with the resources to be able to hire new specialists when they scale. That's the natural cycle.

• Customer is always right.

• Don't get mad at other indie developers' games failing. The speaker states that these people should panic that the "depressionalization" of the games industry is on the horizon.