If you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’re an intelligent, creative sort of person, with at least a passing interest in games. Actually, according to the last Denki poll we carried out, there’s an above average chance that you’re also terribly good looking, quietly satisifed with life and have a pony called Tuppence.
As a good-looking, creative sort of person, then it’s a fairly safe bet that you’ve had a good idea for a videogame at some point. When we allow ourselves out of the office, one of the most common questions we get asked is about new ideas. Yet, it’s one of those topics that the games industry generally doesn’t say much about.
So, let’s say you have a great idea – no, an awesome idea for a game. You’ve played lots of games. You span the genres, you know that your idea could set the world on fire.
However, you’re busy, you don’t have the time to learn C#, or the contacts to let you put the game out in front of an admiring global audience.
It makes sense to ask your friendly neighbourhood games developer, if they can take your idea and turn it into the global megahit you know it deserves to be.
Strangely though, they seem reluctant to listen to your idea, or dismissive even. Which is strange because your idea would make them millions. Ungrateful swine!
The problem is that games companies have to be very careful about ideas and concepts. Something vague or not clearly defined can come back years, or even decades later and cause some serious problems.
Imagine for a moment if you will, that your idea is ‘Mario meets Tomb Raider, but with physics’ or ‘Grand Theft Auto, but online’, or ‘a realistic World War II action adventure game’. The minute a developer releases any sort of platform game, online sandbox title, something with cars in it or, god forbid, anything set between the years 1939 and 1945, then you could claim that it was your idea!
OK, we know you wouldn’t. You’re not deluded. It’s just, you know, other people. People with lawyers and time on their hands. People who could conceivably drag us into court to prove that their idea had cars in and the new Formula One game we’ve just released is a complete rip-off (for example).
For a lot of games companies, this isn’t some vague notion. Any developer which has had a decent hit on the market, has probably received at least one letter from an individual (or less frequently, but far more terrifyingly, another company), saying this is their intellectual property, buddy, now back off and leave the money on the ground…
This is a deal breaker for many studios. Yes, you can fight these claims off. Yes, you can more than likely prove that the general core of the game is so generic and popular that there’s no merit to the complaint but, who has the time – or the money – to do this? Of course, there’s always the remote, slim possibility that in some bizarre and unexpected fluke, the claim is upheld and all of a sudden you do owe this random person/corporation your proceeds for the game (plus damages, expenses and that nice office chair the boss sits in…)
So, pretty much every developer, publisher and person involved in making games, normally gives a “Thank you kindly, but no” sort of reply to any external new idea.
Games companies will risk missing the world’s most awesome game idea, because it’s far less likely to cause them problems in the future. When it comes right down to it, they have lots of clever and creative people actually inside the company. Better yet, those people have contracts in place which mean that their ideas can be used without the potential headaches of lawsuits and damages.
All of which can make some people angry upon occasion. They have after all had the most awesome idea. However, the sad fact is that on its own, an idea is pretty much worthless. Sit us down after work, buy us a few beers and you’ll get a lot of ideas. Dozens (if not hundreds). You’d probably be very welcome to most of them too. It’s the execution that matters, not the vague concept. Sorry.
Besides, if you really believe your idea is that great, you’ll get your hands dirty to prove us all wrong. 
- Brian (@flackboy)
Don’t forget, your ideas aren’t worth a thing. They’re worthless. Their value is zero. Piece of piss, anyone could come up with a million a day.
A good implementation, by a good team, is worth something.
This is a really interesting games industry problem. There are an awful lot of people out there that assume a love and knowledge of games coupled with some good ideas is qualification enough to break into the industry. They send off a few mails, get nothing back and feel ignored.
The fact is, ideas are cheap in this industry and every good developer should have at least four times as many great ideas as they have the time to work on. Like you say, being able to execute an idea is the crucial thing.
Still, that doesn’t mean you have to sit down and learn C+ or how to use the latest in rendering software. There’s an awful lot a budding designer can achieve with words, graphs and detailed illustrations, if they have the patience to fully explain and spec out a genuinely good idea.
A portfolio of well crafted design docs and a good attitude are way more valuable than a fistful of 100 word elevator pitches in my humble experience.