I was inspired to write this blog post after a number of recent events that really got me down, and after talking to some developers who helped to lift me up. I doubt that the developers realized that they had any such impact on me, as I didn’t let on, but I am deeply grateful. I won’t go into too much detail on the events that I mention above, but I’ll explain a little bit of the back story in order to set the stage for the true purpose of this article: to say how awesome the Flash game community is and how it has affected me.
As many of you know, we have a new system called GamerSafe (www.GamerSafe.com) that aims at enhancing the gaming experience for gamers and also allow developers to better monetize games through in-game payments. You also probably know that there are an abundance of other players in the microtransaction business. When we first released GamerSafe we went to many of these other companies with a saying: “We don’t have competitors, we only have partners who aren’t working with us yet.” We had built our system to integrate with other payment platforms and “play nice” with other systems. We thought this was a great idea, this is the same philosophy we’ve had with FlashGameLicense… to work with everyone and to advance the Flash gaming space by helping each other out. It was sure to work out in the microtransaction space too, right? Wrong. Sadly, not a single company took us up on this offer. Many of them tried to get us to replace our system with theirs, some even offered to buy out GamerSafe altogether. We created GamerSafe to improve the lives of Gamers and Developers, and we put a ton of thought and work into it. We knew we’d come up with a great resource for developers, and so we really didn’t want to sell it or replace it. We also had (and have) great plans for the service.
So, in the end we found that we had entered a space that wasn’t as friendly as the developer space. No problem, we would just keep working on our product and continue to work with publishers and developers since we already do that and know they are all great to work with. We should have known better, but it didn’t turn out to be so easy. Even though we focused on our own product, and focused on working very closely with developers and publishers/sponsors to make sure GamerSafe worked right for them instead of focusing on working with or against other companies doing similar things as us, we still had conflicts and confrontations. I do think that many of these incidents were unintentional, but the result was that developers were emailing me and asking me to take a particular position. Then I started to worry that this was widespread, that there were many developers that had a bad impression of us due to things being said behind our backs. I brooded over this.
I recently had a chat with Greg Wohlwend of Intuition Games about getting burned out, and how it is so easy to get so sidetracked with the work and pressure of making a game that you lose sight of everything that got you into making games. I also read many of his articles at http://mile222.com which touched on this and I think were great. It made me think back to when Adam and I started FlashGameLicense.com. Adam and I started FGL out of a love for games and a vision of enabling developers to get their fair share. We were developers ourselves and saw that changes needed to be made, and that in fact they could be made in a way that actually improved the situation for Sponsors as well. This started FGL, but it didn’t keep it going. What kept it going were all the amazing people we worked with. Some people think it’s sad – and a bit ironic – that I have less time to make or play games now than I did before FGL was around but to me it’s not a huge deal because that time is replaced with working with some of the most innovative, fun, creative, and smartest people I’ve ever met. But now… now things had changed. GamerSafe started off in the same thread. But then, after all this time, the emergence of micropayments in games, and the slew of companies entering the market, had finally started to segregate the Flash game developer community.
When this hit me, I felt very down. I knew that I couldn’t give up on GamerSafe, it has the stains of my blood, sweat, and tears and I still believe it to be the system with developers most in mind. But I also felt like it was a big part of the problem. That it was at the core of this anxiety eating away at my insides: that I was contributing to a cause that was hurtful to the community I so loved.
I now realize this was utterly stupid. The true answer was nestled in with the problem I thought I had. You see, as I was brooding and worrying that developers were thinking negatively of me or of FGL or GamerSafe, they were actually all around me supporting us. From all of the developers that visit our forums daily, to the ones singing GamerSafe’s praises before even trying it out, to our very own FGL admins who are some of the most awesome developers around in their own right and for some reason work for FGL for WAY less than they are worth. All of these people see what we’re trying to do and are working towards the same goals… and I had been so distracted that I took it for granted.
We’ve had a few games in the works for a while that are integrating with GamerSafe, so I’ve been communicating with those developers quite a bit lately. A couple of them include Simon Lachance of Berzerk Studio and Ben Olding of Ben Olding Games and though we talk about the games and how they will best integrate with GamerSafe etc… I find that more often we talk about other things. Life, our families, other game ideas we think would be cool, etc… and it reminds me that this is why I kept doing this in the beginning. We made almost nothing in the beginning. And Adam and I still make less than we would if we worked at a sporting goods store or a restaurant. GamerSafe is growing very nicely, but is still a money dump for us as we spend money building it out. But none of this matters. We didn’t start this thing to get rich, we started it because it needed to happen and we saw that if we did it we would have the developer’s best interest in mind. In fact, we don’t even claim to know that we personally know the developer’s best interests. We work with developers to find out what is needed, and even have an entire “suggestion forum” set up so developers can vote what we work on. We have currently helped indie developers make nearly $2.5 million. I think that is more than any other group, or at least close to it. We are extremely proud of this, but what we are even more proud of is the fact that we helped developers get what is fair and right for them in a way that is fair and right.
So, this was a very long winded (thanks to those of you who stayed with it this long) way of saying that we plan to focus on what needs to be focused on: the developers. I owe that to all of you since you are what keep me sane and keep our jobs fun. One of the best times I’ve ever had was at GDC when I actually got to meet many of you, and I look forward to that opportunity again.
What this means, though, is that there will continue to be negative remarks aimed at us, and we will ignore them. Also, it means that our business will continue to be run in an “indie” fashion. This will mean hiccups and delays in the “bonus” features of our systems, but that has never hurt us in the past. If anything it has been extremely useful in preventing us from building out features that nobody wants. It makes us prioritize what we hear people want. I hope everyone will forgive us for these limitations. I personally think it’s rather appropriate for an indie business like ours to work alongside the indie game community.
I also want to encourage all of you to be cognizant of the changes happening in the industry and how they are affecting all of us. These are exciting times, but it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that this is a very rare situation we are in where there is such a large, supportive community all working toward similar goals. Sustaining this environment as long as possible is one of our main goals at FGL, even if it means being a thorn in the backs of those trying to make as much money as possible at the expense of others.
So, with that said, I want to thank you all for being supportive and allowing us to be a part of this crazy, and amazing, industry. Without you and your games none of this would be possible (or fun!).
- Chris Hughes, Co-Founder FlashGameLicense.com & GamerSafe.com
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