Unfortunately, for various reasons, the project got cancelled.

January 24, 2016 1:02 PM

On my last day at Ubisoft, while I was saying goodbye to my colleagues, nobody asked why I was leaving to work on my own games. Even people who barely knew me had a pretty good idea. A lot of them were actually envious, although they worked on Syndicate too, realizing one of their own dreams. I’m sure that many professional game developers might have a clue about why I made this move. So, I decided to write about the reality of AAA games development or: how I learned to stop worrying and go indie.
posted by Sebmojo (10 comments total)

I did the same in publishing: there comes a time where you have to decide whether you want to be domesticated or want to be unleashed. Thanks for the link...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 1:09 PM on January 24, 2016

"going indie" has been my dream since before I got a pro Mac in 1989.

alas, I'm a dreamer not a doer -- I have the Palm Pilot, Sharp Zaurus, Sony Clie, xbox 360, iPod Touch (2007 and 2009), iPad (2010 and 2014) . . . Apple TV (2015) collecting dust on my shelves to prove it.

I was there at the gold rush in 2008, attending the first monthly iPhone meetups in Cupertino even. I *knew* it was a gold rush, I had my pick and pan, yet I sat on my ass as the claims were staked and later the hydraulic operators arrived.

But I still have the dream, dammit. More of a curse as long as it stays a dream, tho. The quasi-guilt of having everything handed to me, being in the right place at the right time my whole life, is something.

I've done gamedev for several majors, and know that's not for me. I hope there's still space for an indie like me if & when I finally poop it out.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 1:14 PM on January 24, 2016 [8 favorites]

I've been in a range of studios, from indy on up, but for the last many years I've found basically my holy grail - doing AAA with global cultural impact, but still with most of the small-team feel, having almost unlimited creative freedom to do whatever I want to explore, being able to see my input in the finished game, etc. Those small/indy advantages are then combined with the significant advantages of working for a big corporation.

In comparison, going indy offers not a lot that I don't already have, but with huge financial uncertainty and (psychologically for me) potentially unlimited workload, and odds stacking against success in increasingly saturated markets.

Unfortunately it's a turbulent industry, and no doubt my current happy situation will not last forever. What to do then is a depressing thought. But TL;DR: AAA doesn't have to be a soulless machine, even if it usually is.

I'm tinkering in my spare time, because I love to tinker. Realistically that's not enough time to achieve much. Still, maybe something will come of it. We'll see :)
posted by -harlequin- at 2:46 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]

I *knew* it was a gold rush, I had my pick and pan, yet I sat on my ass as the claims were staked and later the hydraulic operators arrived.

I can understand. I visited Silicon Valley in the winter of '72-73. Played pong and asteroids at the Stanford Union. Hitched a few hundred free hours on their PL/ACME terminal. And then left for the midwest, just a few months before the Homebrew Computer Club meetings started ... missed a chance to buy an Apple 1.

Ah well. You're either born with the hustle and laser-focus or not. If everyone was an actor, there'd be no audience.
posted by Twang at 6:24 PM on January 24, 2016 [3 favorites]

Having been on both sides, I totally get what he's saying. Those meetings where you just know you're forgetting someone who's going to hunt you down a week later to ask why they weren't asked for their opinion is more or less my day to day job -- I manage expectations, and I deal with wrangling the opinion machine. I'm also hyper-focused on my piece of the pie, which in my mind is essential, though I'm sure there are other managers at my company who would not agree.

The indie company I worked for was magic when it clicked. I had far more creative input, I wore more hats, it was exciting. I also had to deal with a boss whose face is in the dictionary next to "seagull management". He'd disappear for three months to work on some side project, then reappear, scream at us that we were doing it all wrong, threaten to take away our jobs or our project, and then disappear again. When he wasn't there, it was great. When he was, it was a hellscape. And he held the purse strings.

Between the two, I'd rather deal with the first, because for all that my company is big, expectations have been established and very few people have that sort of all-powerful authority to totally disrupt my team or render the last three months of their work inert. And the ones who do generally don't pull that sort of crap -- and if they do, I have recourse. I didn't at my indie studio. The best we could do was go for margaritas and gripe, and wait for Mr. Bossdude to move on to some other distraction.

But yeah. There are days I dream of long hours working on my own, with no one to disrupt my flow, and very few stakeholders to satisfy. Communication was instant. We all knew what we were doing and why, there was a weird sort of family commune Stockholm Syndrome thing going on...us against the world. We were going to make the greatest indie game ever! Until seagull boss showed up, of course, and threw everything into chaos. And ultimately canceled the project I put 5+ years of my life into.

Sigh. Shoulda known to split when he revealed he was getting his management ideas from watching "The Apprentice". (GOD I WISH I WERE JOKING.)
posted by offalark at 7:04 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

Listen, don't say 'Syndicate' if you don't mean Syndicate. It might cause some people do get excited and then feel let down.


(I realize it is a pull-quote, Sebmojo, I'm not blaming you)
posted by Literaryhero at 8:08 PM on January 24, 2016 [2 favorites]

don't say 'Syndicate' if you don't mean Syndicate.

Haha, yes - I likewise only clicked on the article because I thought it was related to the indie "spiritual successor" to Syndicate. If it has slipped under your radar, check out Satellite Reign. I've only played about 5 hours, but it was fun, true to Syndicate spirit, modern graphics, and my impression is that I'm not even close to exploring all the mechanics so far. :)
posted by -harlequin- at 9:02 PM on January 24, 2016 [5 favorites]

Listen, don't say 'Syndicate' if you don't mean Syndicate. It might cause some people do get excited and then feel let down.

well, considering the time frame, he would more likely be referring to THIS syndicate, in which case you're gonna be disappointed no matter what.
posted by shmegegge at 12:49 AM on January 25, 2016 [1 favorite]

My husband also works at Ubisoft, and he does indie game development in his spare time at home. I think working on the indie game really relieves the stress he gets from having to juggle some huge projects at work.
posted by Hazelsmrf at 2:49 AM on January 25, 2016

well, considering the time frame, he would more likely be referring to THIS syndicate, in which case you're gonna be disappointed no matter what.

I actually thought that was a severely underrated title. It gets the baked in the bone horror of cyberpunk dystopia, and it's a solid and very pretty shooter. I understand why everyone was disappointed by it not being a top down squad management game but it's worth a look if you can pick it up cheap (and the coop is great).
posted by Sebmojo at 7:42 PM on January 25, 2016