Peter Molyneux: Indie Development “Goes in Cycles”, Golden Age Will Last a Short Period

While many consider this to be the golden age of indie gaming, even industry veteran Peter Molyneux has stated to CVG that we shouldn’t expect such a time to last. “These things go in cycles. What I’d say is, enjoy this time, because it won’t last.

“Don’t think we’re going to be all indies for the next five years – these things go in cycles, just like in the music business. You have a time where punk is big, and then you have times like now where everything is manufactured. Enjoy this time, because inevitably it will only last a short period.”

Molyenux also states there will come a day when some indie studios decide to accept large amounts of funding from publishers in exchange for creative freedom. “Here’s the thing, walk through any hotel lobby at GDC and look at people’s name badges. This morning at breakfast I saw three angel investors talking to indies. They’re saying, ‘take my money! I want to invest in your company!

“But what those indie companies don’t realise is that they’ll then have to have board meetings, and in those meetings they’ll be told, ‘no, you shouldn’t do that – look at this game that’s making money’.”

Of course when funding mediums such as Kickstarter – or even regular crowd-funding which helped studios like Chris Roberts’ Cloud Imperium Games to raise more than $40 million for Star Citizen – add a twist to the proceedings. Regardless, indie games are on the upswing, admits Molyneux, and this is perhaps the best time to be an indie dev.