Tim Schafer is the CEO and co-founder of Double Fine Productions. He discusses how moving away from traditional game publisher gatekeepers transformed his studio's development process.
What-if
Schafer: AAA Game Studios Would Never Have Created Minecraft
“I don't think a AAA studio would have created Minecraft, for example, you know, and I don't think that followed any sort of rules that existed before it, you know, but I think when people have the ability to kind of make these smaller, personal, more risky pro…”
Insight
Schafer: Traditional Publisher Cross-Collateralization Hurts Individual Creators
“If you're in a studio and you have a bunch of, say you have a bunch of bands, your music studio, You know not all of them are going to be the Rolling Stones, and the Rolling Stones are going to pay for all the other bands, but you cross-prolateralize so that, …”
Opinion
Schafer: Mainstream Video Games Lack Genre Diversity Compared To Film
“In mainstream games, you still have, for the majority sense, like, summer action blockbusters. They're mostly all in that genre, if you know, and I think indie games kind of, you know, have stretched out of that, for sure, but just the idea that, that That peo…”
Insight
Schafer: YouTube Streaming Has Replaced Traditional Game Promotion
“Which I think is how things get promoted these days. It's just everyone talking about it. Kind of, it used to be called water coolers, but I think it's obviously just YouTube streams.”
Insight
Schafer: Narrative Games Require Three Months Work Per Ten Minutes Gameplay
“You'll work for three months on something, it'll take the player 10 minutes to experience.”
Insight
Schafer: Video Games Offer Emotional Practice By Enabling Moral Experimentation
“You know, but she's interested in the range of, you know, what happens if you try these things, and I think, ah, when kids play with dolls, they figure out through role playing what it feels like, and they get this kind of emotional practice, and I think all s…”