As the controversy between Fez creator Phil Fish and Microsoft began to unfold, I couldn’t help myself but think of a certain moment in rock music history. In 1976 England, the early punk rock band Sex Pistols signed with EMI records after a rise to stardom by way of audaciousness and controversy. In just a four short months, for reasons including a profanity-laden interview on national television and protests from the conservative right, the band was dropped from the label. And yet, they continued inspiring and intimidating an entire generation of music fans.
Why the quick music history lesson? Well, the similarities between where rock music was in 1976 and where games are today cannot be denied, and by studying those links, we can get a good idea of the future of indie games.
In the mid-70s, the biggest acts in the world tended towards the theatrical and over-produced. This was the era of KISS, Queen, and The Eagles. Today, their gaming equivalents are Call of Duty, Gears of War, and Halo. All are great in their own rights, but they’re undeniably big-budget and corporate.
The Sex Pistols’ rejection of their major label masters was a defining moment in music, proving that the artist could thrive without corporate help. Even if done unintentionally, their actions not only made the world aware of punk rock, they also became anti-corporate figures.
Fez creator Phil Fish is cut from much of the same cloth. He willingly signed a contract with a corporate entity to put out his work (Microsoft, for those not following), and railed against that company when he believed them to be treating him unfairly. If the history of music has anything to say about the maturation of the medium, he’ll be remembered as a jerk who somehow managed to become an anti-corporate symbol.
Sure, there have been important indie developers before Fish. Just as the Sex Pistols were predated by Patti Smith, Television, and Iggy Pop, Fish was beaten to the intellectual indie punch by folks like Jonathan Blow (Braid), Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy), and Markus “Notch” Persson (Minecraft). But, just as the proto-punk bands never reached national attention, none of these indie devs clashed so publically with a huge company like Microsoft.
So where do we go from here? If the second wave of punk rock during the early ‘80s is any indication, it’ll be in a more do-it-yourself direction. When the Clash, the Ramones, and their contemporaries began to fade into history, bands like Minor Threat, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys took the underground, independent mindset that those bands laid out and took them to the extreme. They pressed their own records, created their own labels, and booked their own tours. They weren’t dependent on major labels to get their music out there, and as such weren’t beholden to appease any corporate ideologies.
And now, independent games are poised to do the same thing. Hell, they’re in an even better position. With the advent of the Internet, it’s much easier to get your work to the general public, and because gaming is a digital art form, the costs of putting something out there aren’t too crazy. Taking things underground allows for more creativity, more edge, and more advancement.
But there’s a problem. Punk rock during the early 80s thrived because of communities in various cities. When a band like the relatively obscure 7 Seconds went on tour, they would be supported by folks who knew what the music was about, and were willing to help. There was a community there.
Gaming doesn’t really have an equivalent. Game jams almost serve this purpose, but they’re more for creators than fans. For a real community to form, we’re going to have to figure out a way to break down the barriers between the audience and the creators. In punk rock, that took the form of the hardcore singer handing the mic to the audience, essentially saying that they’re just as important as the people on stage.
With the advent of tools that allow the common folk to create games with little to no prior knowledge, gaming is again following the DIY music model. Our three-chord punk rock song is the game made with GameMaker, RPG Maker, or Unity. The tools to make games are becoming more and more readily available, and with them come the future of indie games.
Expect gaming’s Dischord Records to appear. Expect our Fugazi. Expect ideologues to come along, making art that would never succeed under the umbrella of traditional game distribution. Really, in people like Jason Rohrer or Anna Anthropy, they’re already here. Just expect them in greater numbers. The barriers between the artist and the audience are beginning to break down, and we’re lucky enough to see it happen.
Taylor Cocke is a Bay Area-based freelance games writer who talks way too much about music, coffee, and Kids in the Hall.Follow him on Twitter.
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