Perhaps a model like Gathering of Developers should be re-explored? GoD was initially an alliance of eight development companies, with each of the founding companies having an equity in the publisher and a representative on the board of directors.
Long have I thought about these kind of approaches! I even tried to get a few off the ground. Alas, to no avail.
Fundamentally, indie developers can be divided into those that have not yet made it but are convinced they will, and those that have made it and are convinced they cannot fail. Neither are really open to alliances! 😅
The problem is purely human, of course. When you bind groups of people together in any framework, they will end up politically clashing with one-another. It's essentially impossible to prevent this, and this makes co-operatives difficult to operate in any human domain, much less in the profoundly introverted world of game development.
Great analysis and analogy.
Perhaps a model like Gathering of Developers should be re-explored? GoD was initially an alliance of eight development companies, with each of the founding companies having an equity in the publisher and a representative on the board of directors.
Dear Chris,
Long have I thought about these kind of approaches! I even tried to get a few off the ground. Alas, to no avail.
Fundamentally, indie developers can be divided into those that have not yet made it but are convinced they will, and those that have made it and are convinced they cannot fail. Neither are really open to alliances! 😅
The problem is purely human, of course. When you bind groups of people together in any framework, they will end up politically clashing with one-another. It's essentially impossible to prevent this, and this makes co-operatives difficult to operate in any human domain, much less in the profoundly introverted world of game development.
Greatly appreciate the comment!
Chris.