Are Indie Bundles Bad For Gaming?

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

 

If you ask any sensible gamer their opinion on the matter, they’ll most likely tell you in a very gloom-and-doom fashion that the videogame market today is full-to-bursting with big-budget franchises and AAA genre titles, and the videogame industry has a bad case of sequelitis and the prognosis for both of these looks to be a long future of unoriginality.  They’ll also most likely tell you that The Only Way Out is to look to the burgeoning indie scene for inspiration; not only into more inspired or charming or original game design but also as a model of how to move away from the overly-corporatized, sequel-a-year, DLC-swollen videogame industry model we’ve come to know and love (loathe?) over the past few years.  Throughout this conversation, the Humble Indie Bundle will almost undoubtedly be referenced as a paragon of this sort of mentality.

Yes, the Humble Bundle – a handful of some of the hottest indie games sold together on a pay-what-you-can basis.  A generous offer, no matter how you slice it – and the games almost always are quite good to boot.  Certainly a notion such as this (not to mention the many spinoff indie bundles that have started cropping up) are clear stepping stones on the road to the videogame promised land.  Why then, do I not think that this idea will be enough to save gaming?


Consider the following: In the span of the past few months I have downloaded:

  • 2 Humble Indie Bundles
  • 2 Indie Royale Bundles
  • The IGF Pirate Kart
  • roughly 463,912 games that Steam has practically been giving away

Altogether, it adds up to literally hundreds of games (I’m not exaggerating – the Pirate Kart itself contains no fewer than 300 entries), and I’ve spent a meager freaking pittance on any of them – conservatively I estimate I’ve spent on all these games combined less than half of what I would have paid for a “normal” full priced title that could be picked up from the local Gamestop.  In fact, I’ve recently purchased so many games all bundled nicely together for next to nothing that I had to go back through my library just now to identify them all – since I’ve forgotten I even had most of them.

And that’s sort of the problem – these bundles tend to come with a high forgettability rate.  Not necessarily because the games themselves are cheap or bad or unremarkable, there’s just so damn many of them all at once.

On the other hand, while retail games may be expensive (and, for the most part these games are unremarkable), they also command a certain level of inherent commitment.  There’s something to be said for making the conscious choice to head out to the local game shop and knowingly plunk down 60 hard earned, real life dollars on a game – those 60 dollars seal an unspoken deal that you’re choosing to invest your money and, ultimately your time into this game.  You choose to buy a specific game because that’s the game you’re going to be playing, not some other game.

If retail games represent a dedicated, steady (if not a bit chilly) videogame monogamy, then surely the world of the indie bundle is an orgy of digital promiscuity and fleeting trysts with exciting strangers.  The problem is, while I may not condemn this approach, I don’t think it’s what videogames need right now.  The fact is there are a lot of great ideas (both in terms of games and how to market them) coming from smaller indie developers.  These ideas need to be spotlighted prominently, and held up as a paragon of what the videogame industry should be moving towards.  We need to stop and take the time to experience all they have to offer and fully appreciate the insight they can convey.

Unfortunately, when I receive new emails every week telling me that a new indie bundle featuring 7 of The Best Indie Games is on sale for less than the cost of my lunch that day, I simply don’t have time to dedicate to all of them.  This is an environment where things slip through the cracks, are played for 20 minutes and then forever filed away in a Steam library while I move on to the next bundle in my inbox.

I think that indie bundles are important.  They raise awareness of some great games and some very talented developers, and they extraordinarily low prices are instrumental in easing people’s fear of trying unknown games since, at worst they’re losing a cup of coffee’s worth of money.  On top of that, they’re helping us to think about what the value of a videogame actually is, or should be.  However, I also think that, paradoxically, the current indie bundle trend is detrimental to the proliferation of the indie gaming industry (and ultimately the reformation of the videogame industry, if I may be optimistic).

For starters, that these games are bundled and distributed so freely (almost carelessly, even) itself is relegating indie games to the sort of sub-class of games they currently inhabit – there’s the notion that indie games aren’t “real” games because they’re small and cheap and don’t have a major budget or big-name publisher to back them.  I could be overthinking here but it’s hard not to interpret a sort of “us and them” mentality that’s counterproductive to what indie bundles are capable of accomplishing.

More importantly, it’s a simple question of saturation.  Indie bundles are a textbook embodiment of the adage “too much of a good thing” and after a while we as gamers start to go numb to the whole project.  I don’t by any means think we should stop with the indie bundles – but we should certainly slow it down.  I want to feel like I can dedicate the same amount of time to an indie game that I would to something picked up from Gamestop.  They’re good games – oftentimes very good, and they deserve proper recognition in the form of more deliberate, less feverish playthroughs.  Slow down with the bundles.  Let us stop and smell the roses for a bit.  We’ll still be interested, I promise.

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Posted in features

About the Author

Patrick Lindsey lives in Toronto. He loves Star Wars almost as much as he hates motion controls. He can be found on Twitter abusing caps lock far too much @HanFreakinSolo, or reached by email at patrickwlindsey [at] gmail [dot] com.

  • http://profiles.google.com/megazell Mega Zell

    It’s OK to say “No”, you know? I don’t mess with retail video games anymore. I’m strictly a freeware and F2P PC gamer but from time to time I get free retail games. Some I say OK to and some I say NO to and hand them off to another person. In the end, I say NO because I simply don’t have the time to play them all. With STEAM, GoG, Desura and others giving out free games so often and the already high freeware scene (that many times later on go retail) as a parent, worker/business owner and activist I just don’t have time. It’s not a bad thing that these bundles come out as often as they do. It’s great it’s been giving PC Gamers different choices at affordable rates. That’s always good. Just don’t be intent on PLAYING THEM ALL to the fullest. Just play what you can and enjoy it. :)

    • Patrick Lindsey

      Thanks for reading! I definitely see what you’re saying. Unfortunately, I feel like “The Industry” today is set up to encourage a frenzy of hype around a game upon its release and then shelve it a month later to move on to the next thing. I know it’s all spin and marketing, but it’s easy for a gamer to feel like if he or she plays a game months after release that (s)he is being “excluded” or “missing out.” I know that’s definitely more of a retail ailment but for someone like me, or arguably a good portion of the gaming community it’s hard to make that distinction.

      • http://profiles.google.com/megazell Mega Zell

        I hear you but that’s the name of the marketing ‘game.’ They create an atmosphere that makes you want the new so that you feel included in that number. But the saint ain’t marching anywhere any more. The hype machine is just that, hype. Conscious consumers should take the time out to get the best possible value out of their purchase be it games or otherwise. The hype machine and social pressure mechanism is in place in all retail things, especially trendy item. People complain about why x, y and z trends gets out of hand. It’s because people allow it to. I say if you bought a bundle from 2 years ago…take your game time…devote said time to beating those bastards and then think about moving on once the last drop of value is squeezed the hell out. :)

  • Urcheon

    I find myself often enjoying, playing & valuing indie games more than AAA games. However because of the costs involved I feel it is understandable that AAA games are going to be more expensive. Now with all the steam sales, AAA games are being sold for $5-15 so it is understandable that indies are being bundled and sold so cheaply to compete.

    On the plus side all these sales get more games into more people’s hands. You can take a chance and buy a game you may or may not like or play. Developers make out because of sheer volume. I think the idea is that hard core fans can’t wait & will buy games at top dollar and the people that normally might not even buy the game will get it on sale. I am concerned that games are losing value with all these sales, especially over time. I am finding myself so backed up on games (indie & AAA) that I usually will only buy a new game if it is dirt cheap. I’m also running out of hard drive space but I can uninstall a lot.

    Some people feel that only the top indie games will make it into the sales and that it is becoming harder for the average indie to make it. Although with the number of bundles being put out and nothing stopping people from putting together new ones, I see it more of an issue of the sales model becoming more important for the success of the game.

    My other concern is that when I purchase a bundle I do not get to determine which games get my money. Often when I buy a bundle I only really like and play one of them. I would prefer to have all my money go to that developer so that I support them and increase their chances of putting out another game. Sure I can and should just go buy the game at full price if I really like it but I wonder how many people end up doing that.

    • Patrick Lindsey

      It’s definitely true that more bundled games being sold for cheaper means that they’ll make it into more people’s hands, which I think is great. The problem I have is that because the games are so cheap and come bundled, people buy them almost casually, and unless they find something that they really connect with off the bat, will typically play them once and that’s it.

      While I definitely agree that low bundle prices encourage more people to take chances on games they otherwise wouldn’t buy, it also paints a picture of a lot of indie games as akin to the prize you get at the bottom of a cereal box – a nice trinket to find but ultimately something you don’t see a lot of value in because what you really wanted was the Froot Loops (or in this case, one of the “bigger name” bundle games like Braid or VVVVVV).

      • Urcheon

        Cheap bundled games have positive & negative effects. It can be debated if the good out ways the bad or not. Regardless I do not think they are going to go away or even slow down any time soon because it’s a free market. I wonder if it would be most productive to focus energy on how developers can adapt to the evolving market so that things are better for developers & gamers alike.

        I think you touched on the key issue, “unless they find something that they really connect with off the bat, will typically play them once and that’s it”. So the question becomes how can developers help more players connect with their games in the first 5 to 15 minutes or so. This also would greatly help demos sell games too. Things that may help with this are clear & concise in game instructions, a well designed interface, scaffolding technique for complex games, etc.

        A good example of this is the game 3079. I love the game now & I’m glad I gave it a chance but I almost gave up on it early on because of the poor initial experience design. http://www.desura.com/games/3079

  • Mark Booker

    At this point it’s very tempting to just stay away from purchasing new indie games, because it’s bound to end up in a bundle. I don’t necessarily follow this rule, but my brain tells me to, and I know that others are more cautious than ever.

    • http://davarkg.com/ Kenji Kikawada

      Yes, as a matter of fact I can name at least three Indie games off the top of my head right now that I am holding off on purchasing just for this very reason.

  • http://twitter.com/xdiesp6 xdiesp6

    It’s better to sell 100 people a 1$ game, that a 10$ one to 10 people. They will return later with even more friends given the rep gain gets massive, while those 10 won’t even remember.

  • 16BitMonkey

    It just shows that you’re a cheap &^$*^%$ Patrick. For example Humble Bundle #4 was selling for a *suggested* retail price of $25. So if you bought all these bundles and “conservatively I estimate I’ve spent on all these games combined less than half of what I would have paid for a “normal” full priced title that could be picked up from the local Gamestop” you are clearly exactly the type of person that shouldn’t be buying these bundles.

    LOL – What a tool.

    • Patrick Lindsey

      Yeah, I understand that the bundles aren’t expensive, but my concern was never one of price. I have no problem with the price of the Humble Bundles, Indie Royale bundles, etc – if anything, I think they’re TOO cheap.

      The problem is, because we’re so inundated with incredibly cheap bundles so often it’s more an issue of time. To put it simply, with so many games coming out for so cheap, people may be BUYING these games, but it’s unlikely that everybody will be PLAYING them all, which is counterproductive.

  • Anonymous

    Complaining about offers and options which you can decide to take is strange to me. And to warn about this development even more. What bad thing can happen? If you lose interest then fine, nobody is obliged to buy all this stuff.

  • http://twitter.com/iggymontonero Iggy

    Patrick, thanks for the article.
    Although you are quite ignorant of Linux gamers. Those hundreds of games you are referring in the beginning is not something they can enjoy (If I am correct that most of those pirate kart games are Win only, thus Mac users are being ignored too). Moreover, HIB (the only bundle that has Linux support mandatory) does not send you emails every week. Even if it did – I would not complain. Personally, I’d like to see HIB with more games and more often.
    Given that Linux users’ financial contribution to HIB is around 25% – this is a significant share worth to be reckoned with.
    http://freshmilkgames.com/#!/post/18573184328/humble-indie-bundle-and-the-rest