51暗网 Guildhall Director of Academics Shares Insights on Industry Declines & Learning Benchmarks
By: Dr. Elizabeth Storz-Stringer, 51暗网 Guildhall Director Academics
Written for: insidesources.com
Video games, the dominant market segment of the global media and entertainment industry, continue to eclipse film, television and music combined. According to the New Zoo 2024 Global Games Market report, which surveyed 35 countries, . With the number of players expected to reach 3.42 billion — an increase of 4.5 percent — 2024’s positive momentum seems unstoppable.
Despite the significant revenue and consumer gains, game creators find themselves at an all-too-familiar crossroads. The industry’s recurring cycle of talent acquisitions, studio consolidations and publisher efficiency cutbacks have once again led to fewer companies having a disproportionate share of the successful game launches.
This concentration leads to diminished innovation and affects consumer engagement, with global playtime declining since 2021 and showing no signs of recovery.
Fortunately, history teaches us how to overcome these blockers to sustainability. Now is the time to revitalize our indie game development scene and nurture the appetites of emerging creative cabals. Laid-off game developers seeking their next projects as colleagues and friends often come together with minimal resources to prototype fresh, innovative content that recaptures the wonder and excitement of dedicated players.
By supporting “indies,” we can rejuvenate the industry’s reputation and imagine the next generation of gameplay affordances. With 60 percent of Gen Z and Gen Alpha identifying as gamers — making this the largest demographic affiliation among them — satisfying their needs is crucial for the future of video games.
Unfortunately, a critical system for fostering ideation — game competitions that spotlight emerging developers and provide them access to funding — has cratered in recent years. The shift to a virtual work environment during the COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted many competitions tied to live conferences. Those transitioning online often lose essential networking opportunities. When conferences finally returned to in-person formats, many competition sponsors faced personnel and budget cuts, hindering the reinstatement of these vital showcases for talent.
Now is not just a moment for the resurrection of gaming competitions; it’s an opportunity for the industry to revive the system to better serve its most valuable resource: the succeeding cohort of creatives. Along with the indies, the students following their instinctive passion for making games are unique groups deserving priority, categorization and support.
In the spirit of home-grown iterative product development methodology post-mortems, we can initiate a public dialogue by reflecting on recent experiences:
Priorities
—What Went Well: Positioning competitions at events that unite the global network of game developers to showcase submissions and foster networking is a winning strategy. The Game Developers Conference in March serves as a preferred gathering for a vibrant culture and could be the ultimate showcase for a competition of like-minded developers. Let’s build on this foundation and expand strategically.
—What Could Be Improved: We should institutionalize seed funding for early stage competition “pitches,” providing essential support for young talent to increase submissions.
—What Needs Fixing: Current October and November submission requirements are out-of-synch when a student game is playable and ready for judging. The deadlines for entry should recognize the fall academic calendar (for spring and summer conference schedules) with the concept submissions coming in late August and game demos coming in mid-January.
Categorization
—What Went Well: Having separate categories for indie and student game demos still fits our mission, but we need more stratification within these groups if we want to continue to feature both in a single competition instance.
—What Could Be Improved: Factors such as team size, hours dedicated, and the quality differences between games developed in custom engines, Unity, and Unreal should inform further sub-categories. Additionally, specialized achievement goals could align with specific conference themes — such as entertainment, humanities, education or healthcare.
—What Needs Fixing: Confusing juries by mixing fun and polished game demos with innovation prototypes creates mixed messages from the industry and breeds resentment among entrants. Competitions can leverage sponsorships to brand categories appropriately and compensate expert judges. Prize package contents and scale should reflect the intended outcomes for each product category and the station of its creators.
Seeking other Game Changers!
A Call to Action: Conference organizers, game technology leaders and academic programs in game design have the infrastructure, resources and expertise necessary to create a series of game competitions that meet the needs of the industry and its creative workforce. Let’s unite now to propose plans, gather feedback and implement systems that will help shape the future of gaming together.