There was an excellent article posted on Gamasutra a while back, by James Portnow (founder of Divide By Zero).  It reminded me of a question I’ve been asking for several years now (normally at industry events, sloshing beer over fascinated listeners).  The question is – why are none of the major games publishers starting up indie-friendly labels in the same sort of way the major music and movie companies have? Or, in fact, why are there no indie labels full-stop?

Put simply – why have major games publishers like EA, Activision, etc. not siphoned away a tiny percentage of money, to find, fund and publish new indie games?  The developers are there, they’re already working and in some cases, making exceptionally lovely, hugely popular and genuinely innovative games.

In terms of helping to build and secure a whole range of new ideas and concepts, which can be turned into console-based franchises and brands, it seems obvious.

Certain individual titles and even companies have been given some help and funding from the major games companies, but as yet there’s no concerted effort to work with and encourage (ok – and exploit) the indie games scene.  Is it because it’s still too new and ‘unproven’?  Is it the old games industry prejudice that anything that doesn’t come in a box and work on a console is not a ‘real’ game – or are the publishers just shy?

Without indie labels like 4AD, Fierce Panda, Chemikal Underground, Matador and others, we’d never have come across bands like The Pixies, Coldplay, Mogwai, Arab Strap (above) or The Smiths…

Of course, most of the indie labels started out as just that – independent.  Not part of a major music group.  Their focus was on new, innovative bands and artists, while avoided the mega-selling, yet middle-of-the-road artists that their larger cousins tend to produce.

So, should we be looking at some of the indie developers themselves, as the seed of a new generation of publishers?  Could 2D Boy or Behemoth be the BMG of the next decade?

EA are kinda dipping a toe into the water with their own indie studio, 8lb Gorilla, but this is a development company, not a bona fide publisher.  Still, it will be interesting to see what the other 792lbs of EA make of this whippersnapper studio over the next couple of years.

You can even make an argument that Valve’s Steam service is sort of – a little bit – like a publisher.  There’s no funding or editorial control, but they’re still very much playing the role of ‘tastemaker’.  So not very like a publisher, but enough to show there may some sort of existence outside the normal developer/publisher roles we know and love.

With events like Dare to be Digital and the Independent Games Festival throwing up new games, new teams and new talent, there’s going to be more opportunity than ever to find, foster (and own) the next big thing.

Of course, since I started writing this piece, news has appeared that a brand new company has started up, which plans to do exactly this.  Well, the marketing and digital distribution parts anyway.  As for funding, that may have to wait.

For game developers, it’s all good news.  There are more opportunities and more ways to reach consumers than ever before, so there’s now even less of an excuse for sitting on that ‘golden idea’ for the next few years…

Finally, there are signs that the content creators within the music industry (which isn’t famed for being the more advanced, technology-friendly and progressive business in the world) have had enough of waiting for the major labels to do their job and are instead, taking their music straight to the fans.  I point you to the now infamous ‘pay what you like’ albums from Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, or the magnificent media frenzy that is Amanda Palmer, for examples of what musicians are already doing for themselves.

Are developers likely to follow?  Or do we need the publishers in there to make it just that little bit less scary?

- Brian (@flackboy)