Riskiest games most rewarding

By Robert Purchese Published 30 October, 2007

Taking chances pays off - Braben

Frontier boss David Braben has urged publishers to remember that taking a chance on an unproven game can often lead to mountains of money.

He pushed forwards The Sims, Roller-coaster Tycoon and Grand Theft Auto as examples, and said trusting developers with unique or experimental ideas can see a much bigger payback than tried and trusted creations.

"You justify it because the prize is huge," Braben told GamesIndustry.biz in an exclusive interview.

"Roller-coaster Tycoon initially didn't sell well but gradually grew into a huge seller. But there was mass scepticism within the industry. EA almost didn't publish The Sims. They thought they'd humour Will Wright because he's done good stuff in the past and it ended up as the world's number one seller."

"These things would not get embraced by big business. In terms of return on investment you've got to be able to forecast, usually based on an existing title," he said.

Braben was detailing life as an independent developer amid rising costs here in the UK and recent industry acquisitions of key developers like BioWare, Pandemic and Bizarre Creations.

However, he said his Frontier Developments studio has enjoyed a wonderful relationship of trust with LucasArts on Thrillville and with an unnamed publisher on ambitious project The Outsider that have allowed both to prosper.

For him, remaining independent awards a much more flexible development process as ideas do not have to be cleared by a large boardroom of suits.

Head over to GamesIndustry.biz to read the full interview with David Braben, where he gives his thoughts on the acquisitions and why life as an independent studio is not as gloomy as it appears.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (25) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #1 4 years ago

    Wasn't Rollercoaster Tycoon a rip-off of part of Bullfrog's Theme Park?

  • Rowlsten #2 4 years ago

    But ripped off in a really good way :)

  • Clive_Dunn #3 4 years ago

    Well said Braben ! Thank god you've remained independant as that's allowed Frontier to take risks and bring us such wonderful games as....erm.....that one....and...yeah...that other one.....

    Go Frontier !

  • mrpsb #4 4 years ago

    Shut up and finish Elite IV. If it isn't shit, then we'll listen.

  • Lutz #5 4 years ago

    Less talking. More Elite IV making.

  • ZuluHero #6 4 years ago

    nice to see that you're still alive braben, but as others have already said - Elite IV now, articles on EG later!

  • KingOfIceland #7 4 years ago

    What's with all these developers whining about the "awful status of gaming", when most of them haven't done anything interesting or good

  • RumpyStumpy #8 4 years ago

    Whats with all these forumites who complain about devs complaining about the state of the industry, who have produced absolutely nothing, good or bad?

  • asphaltcowboy #9 4 years ago

    As the industry gets bigger and bigger (and hence more profitable) I have a feeling that less risks will be taken as $-sign goggle sales rise dramatically! Of course, you'd hope that selling more games and making more money (i.e. having more to spend) would allow developers to take more risks! Alas, I doubt this will be the case :(

  • ukslim #10 4 years ago

    Well, the whole point of risk is that it's risky. You MIGHT get massive rewards, but you're more likely to lose a bundle.

    From a business point of view, the trick is to bankroll 10 risky projects, in the expectation that one succeeds enough to offset the losses you make on the other nine.

  • Freek #11 4 years ago

    Whats with all these forumites who complain about devs complaining about the state of the industry, who have produced absolutely nothing, good or bad?
    ignore poster

    You don't have to be a game developer to spot somebody being an attention whore or talking nonsense.
    Sometimes the situation gets out of hand so badly it's easy to see. Like Peter Molynuex bigging up Halo's storyline.
    It's not insider knowledge or technology, it's PR spin.

  • asphaltcowboy #12 4 years ago

    That, and the fact that there are plenty of people on here that are actually in games development...

  • bushwod #13 4 years ago

    Whats with all these forumites complaining about forumites who complain about devs complaining about the state of the industry???

    :-P

  • Bumhug360 #14 4 years ago

    Taking chances pays off says man whos last few games have been rollercoaster tycoon 2, two rollercoaster tycoon 2 expansion packs, rollercoaster tycoon 3, two rollercoaster tycoon 3 expansion packs, Thrillview (Rollercoaster tycoon 4), Thrillview off the rails (Rollercoaster tycoon 4.1) and a couple of wallace and gromit games. Talk about playing it safe

    I am awaiting the press release where he says that the idea behind The Outsider has changed and you will now play the part of a small time theme park manager fighting off a hostile takeover
    Edited by 1 at 30/10/07 @ 16:56

  • pinchofsalt #15 4 years ago

    Dogs Life?

  • Les #16 4 years ago

    "Well, the whole point of risk is that it's risky. You MIGHT get massive rewards, but you're more likely to lose a bundle."

    Indeed, he's just expressing the economic risk/reward relationship.

  • Lebowski #17 4 years ago

    I love Risk - the trick is to take Africa then expand. Don't bother with Australia as it's out on a limb.

  • Fitzmogwai #18 4 years ago

    "From a business point of view, the trick is to bankroll 10 risky projects, in the expectation that one succeeds enough to offset the losses you make on the other nine."


    American film industry. Just saying.

  • Red-Moose #19 4 years ago

    David Braben announces that making no games at all is the riskiest type of activity in the games business but's he's hoping it will pay off if he keeps making press releases on how risky he is.

    Don't trust him.

  • yagisencho #20 4 years ago

    Too bad Thrillville has been such a let-down for RCT fans (myself especially).

  • smelly #21 4 years ago

    "Would allow developers to take more risks! Alas, I doubt this will be the case :"

    It's not the developers.. it's the publishers... If you think it's developers who dont have/like the original ideas, or unwilling to take risks.. then you're wrong.


    "That, and the fact that there are plenty of people on here that are actually in games development.."


    Uhu.

  • spud71 #22 4 years ago

    He wouldn't take a risk on me with a fighting concept.

  • JayPee #23 4 years ago

    The Sims - Logical Extension of Sim City
    RollerCoaster Tycoon - Logical extension of Theme Park et al.
    Grand Theft Auto - Perhaps more so, though the top-down versions hardly blew the mind!

    @ Rumpy
    I guess it's the separation that the forumite doesn't have their opinions quoted and used for industry news stories. Although I sometimes wonder how far off we are from that going by a few Edge articles I have read lately.

  • Avenger1324 #24 4 years ago

    Sounds like he is struggling for a publisher

  • BadBoyBonner #25 4 years ago

    David Braben has clearly been funding the development and training of a team by doing contract work – which has in turn allowed a progressively wider remit (all the mini games in the Thrillville series). This obviously means his team training budget is effectively worked into the contract price – and clearly all parties are happy or the contract would not go ahead.

    The profit from each project is evidently allowing him to build the team he feels he needs to complete his own visions. This in turn allows his team to remain independent.

    Sounds like good business practice to me in what can only be described as a volatile market. Any criticisms of his and/or his teams creative flare seems to be someway off the mark if you look at the bigger picture.
    Edited by 1 at 31/10/07 @ 09:53