DO SCHNITZEL AND GAMES REALLY GO ALONG?

COLLECTIVELY REFLECTING THE TRUTH

Shortly before Easter I attended a public discussion @subotron in Vienna dealing with important questions about the Austrian gaming industry. In case you are my usual reader from abroad: Subotron is one of the few associations in Austria trying to push and make leaps for the local gaming industry. Mostly based on open discussions they constantly pull off events that are educational, promotional and interesting for students and industry members alike. - Among other growing organizations and communities, Subotron might as well be right at the center of videogame culture and computer related art in Austria if you will.

I found this evening particularly interesting because it was more or less centered around Thomas Mahler (the creator of Ori and the Blind Forest) or rather certain comments he made about the state of the gaming industry in Austria. - Essentially that there isn't one, because although there are games being made in Austria, none of them (subjectively speaking) qualifies as a "good" game because in order to make a good - or rather an internationally successful - game; here you can neither find the necessary talent nor the financial support you would need. In a way I agree, but the controversial nature of this statement, the reactions from local studios and how the press handled it was not the only reason I attended and wanted to hear more. I was also there because I am currently playing Ori and I am naturally working on a review where I wanted to include some elements of the discussion, if possible. - Believe it or not, but it doesn't happen quite that often that an internationally top-selling and highly appreciated game is "made in Austria" or... "from a guy from Austria"... or whatever the correct label is. In a way Thomas Mahler currently is a star, maybe a sub-cultural one, but I guess that qualifies. For people from this country - like myself - it is a rare pleasure to shake the hand of such a person, to see how he is in reality and to listen to what he has to say in person instead of staring at a monitor.

I expected a mudslinging, seriously! Because as it is most of the times; where there are those that literally idolize you, there are also those that condemn you because envy always comes before rationality. Or was it arrogance that comes before envy? Anyway, very soon statements are made, twisted and people get pissed off. Misunderstanding leads to accusation, accusations lead to a defensive position, defense turns into attack and the hateful, despicable fight is preprogrammed. A lite version of something like that happened in Austria some weeks before the release of Ori and to make one thing clear: I am not defending a statement that even makes me look like an idiot in what I am doing as the small indie guy I try to be. But I have to admit that I agree to a certain point and above all I appreciate statements like this in the way that they cause ripples and that the lead to great discussions like this recent one, where a bigger part of the people that have something to say about videogames in Austria is present and issues publically surface that usually nobody dares to speak out loud.

Yes, there were some moments, some aggressive statements and as always a few unfounded comments, but for the most part - I would say 99% - this evening was absolutely civilized and informative. The expected mudslinging, which almost tempted me to bring some popcorn, didn't take place. Instead I found myself surrounded by many, really smart people who without exception not only knew what they were talking about but also surprised me deeply.

EXHUMED CORPSES AND ARTIFICIAL LABELS

The debate spread to several different questions like: Is it good to hire only the best people to make a game versus who takes care of the diamonds in a rough? Is it really true that you can't find the people you need - the best people - for your game in Austria? If so, who's fault is that? - Is it because the educational system doesn't produce quality standards in Austria? Is it because we are Austrians after all - meaning that we all sit on our royal asses and wait for everything to come to us instead of working really hard? Or is it because there really is no foundation that allows for quality here because ultimately it costs money and tragically Austrian companies aren't getting real support from the government and/or economical institutions but are instead confronted with every possible stone "they" can put in their way?

Those are some of the core issues right there and although questions like that can't be answered over night, people started to reflect them! Videogames is a business. It's an awful hard job and I would not be surprised if in some years studies will surface showing how people working in this field endangered their health and shortened their lifespan due to the constant stress and pressure they are exposed to. - Actually no, I take that back, I would bet such studies already exist abundantly. I guess making videogames being hard as well as being a business is one thing all the parties agreed. At some point however I missed the mutual consent that in that regard it doesn't really matter whether you make a (subjectively) "not so cool" f2p browser game or a "highly meta-critiqued" console game. It doesn't matter if you work with four people across the globe or with 80 local employees you have to pay every month and thus give the government probably more than they deserve for giving you not the least bit of support, although you are actually pushing an industry with a bright future, locally accumulating know-how and so on. It doesn't matter in the sense of people working under pressure, of resources being managed and sacrifices made. Ultimately - because there are damn smart people behind it - I wouldn't doubt that usually the best possible thing is created from the options available. Videogames is a business... and a lot of different game studios use different business models for their games. There is nothing wrong with dissecting a target audience and making games especially for them. But logically the level of success becomes as subjective as the answer to the question of the result being good. If the final product sells according to the expectations and in the meantime generates enough money to actually help local programmers, artist and designers, if it supplies jobs and therefore raises the quality - the skills of every employee - long-term, there should be nothing to criticize on that. The question is just how far you can really boost quality if you only produce what makes your company survive instead of pushing yourself. I honestly believe that Mahler is seeing this not in any other way. As I said before, statements tend to get twisted and sometimes debates circle around one improper articulation longer than necessary. But you have to ask the question if something is good! This is in our nature. It's what drives economy and ultimately ensures quality. We, especially as the people tied to this contemporarily supreme form of entertainment, have to ask us that question every day! And believe me; we will have to ask it even more in the future because more and more games are produced on a daily basis. It's like economy class 101: Only the good stuff will make it and the rest will perish! Actually, I like that thought because in a nonbiased environment good would be determined by the people - by the market. Unfortunately we all know that we are not living in such an environment and that mighty marketing mechanisms almost have us at the point where they can shove everything down our throats. Good or bad has long become an artificial label rather than being a common and reasonable concept.

Like I said, in a sense I agree with Mahler. He wants to push people. He has come under some "lite" version of an attack but surely unjustly marked as arrogant because he banged his fist on the table and told the people to wake up. If you - if we as Austria - really want to be part of this game, we need to rethink our conceptions of what is good. All the micro-economical necessities like paychecks aside, we need to push the visions rather than the more or less safe perspectives. This is an international game and we need to think bigger. What is good for the Austrian or the German market for example is not enough if you want to sit in on this table. Please forget those borders and somebody do a leap of faith. Just be honest to yourself; Isn't there some truth in what Mahler also said - roughly quoted but surely contextually right as - "A game is good when it will be remembered even 20 years from now". Nobody will remember the next Call of Duty or the next Assassin's Creed. - Heck, I can't even tell the individual games of those franchises apart anymore. And internationally!, most certainly nobody will remember a game like Mein Gestüt. It doesn't matter if you are a programmer, a designer, a CEO, a tester, a writer or a student,... if you listen carefully to what your heart is telling you, wouldn't you rather work on a game like Ori instead of some mere excuse of a game like *insert 90% and rising of any f2p, premium, advertisement-packed mobile title*?

DON'T STOP BELIEVING

In the end you have to do what makes you happy, right? Jobs in this industry are so tough that you need at least that. And we are all forever 16 too... In a way even the simplest games can make us happy and I can quite good imagine that working on Skyrama was a ton of fun for example. Then again, there is more; something everlasting, a chance to be part of something bigger and to help create a true legacy of videogames, because next to entertainment and business above all it is and should be one thing: art! I know that there are pages reserved for Austria in this book of videogame history... I just hope that by now it is perfectly clear that those pages will not be filled by games produced with the sole intent of "employing 80 people" or "being able to write paychecks". I am certain that we have to do better than that but also that we can make it.

Do we need support? Do things have to change? Do we need better people? Do we need to encourage and train more people? Do we need a stronger community? Do we all need to march the streets in front of the government buildings and scream out lout that nonwage labor costs, among other policies, are ridiculous in this country? Do we need to take a leap of faith and take a risk? - Yes, I think we need!

Above all I think we have to continue to make games, to give our best and to work together. I have played and "played" creating games for so long, always trying to put an eye on the industry in Austria. Honestly, I didn't see too much. I liked to think that's because I also have higher standards but maybe I just wasn't looking good enough... Anyway, I can see it now; more and more communities are forming, the media is jumping in and games are coming from both the industry and indies. Be it Ori and the Blind Forest from Moon Studios, A Fragment of Her from Chronerion, Legacy Quest from Socialspiel or Shadowrun Online from Cliffhanger and many, many more - the things are happening! My biggest hope however lies in that GamesAustria will really become a great, open and impartial platform for us all to pull on the same string. That we can finally have a community where everyone is accepted and every single keyboard junky and artist is encouraged to get out of his or her basement and realizes the opportunity to show their work to people who welcome it. I have no illusions, it's not going to be easy, but if we all work hard things will change.

And that's my cue,... if I took one thing with me from that evening it's motivation. I don't really know how much more I can put into this, into Phi, into my other prototypes, into a good portfolio and reading even more, because honestly I am on the limit already. But alright, I get the message. I will work even harder. I don’t care. If that’s what it takes to get at least some attention, to get at least those feedbacks that tell me I am doing garbage so I can really improve… My financial reserves should keep me going till the end of May and then we will see. But I am certainly not going to resign to the Lagerhäuser, the only buildings higher than churches in my surroundings, constantly and symbolically laughing down and postulating that in Austria you can’t be anything else than a farmer.

Play more! Work more!