Solo indie dev behind hit city builder says devs should have more room for failure because "your first game always fails" and "their 10th game might be the next AAA studio"
Sep. 30, 2024Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles creator Tomas Sala says supporting indies is “investing in the next generation of the industry, so that there’s something new in 20 years”
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Tomas Sala, the solo developer behind hit city builder Bulwark Evolution: Falconeer Chronicles, wants indie devs to have a little more room for failure.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Sala was asked to comment on the difficulty indie developers face building financially viable games and studios, specifically with regards to Steam’s infamous 30% tax it charges developers,which Sala previously decried as a “relic” that “needs to go down”.
This time around, Sala spoke more broadly about how the video game industry can support indie developers, saying “it’s a given” that their first games fail commercially.
“We should add more pathways to make people learn where they can have a failure, because the developer that’s failed at one game will make the second game [that’s] better, and the third way will be even better, and their 10th game might be the next AAA studio.”
Sala also made the case that major platforms “likeValveor Xbox” should invest more in indie developers because they won’t have to rely as much on existing IP to drive business and so “there’s something new in 20 years. If people like me die out, and it’s all Fortnite for now, for 20 years, at some point, that’s going to impact the big guys as well, because there’s no cheap talent anymore, there’s not people coming in because they’re not learning the trade, they’re not learning how to tell stories.”
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After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer, I’m responsible for managing the site’s western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I’m too afraid to finish.
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