Reggie Fils-Aime Believes More Game Devs Will Leave "Mega-Corporations" Over The Next Few Years

There's no denying that the games industry is experiencing an unprecedented period of consolidation. Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard, Sony has bought Bungie, and Tencent is inching ever closer to acquiring Ubisoft.

This has led some gamers to grow concerned for the future. As Disney has shown, having everything controlled by just one or two corporations tends to put a damper on creativity, the very thing that game developers thrive on.

Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime isn't worried. In an interview with Fanbyte, he said that he understands why Sony and Microsoft are buying up studios, calling first-party development "critically important" to both their futures. However, he also said that developers aren't necessarily going to stick around as their studios get gobbled up by mega-corporations.

"I do believe [that in the next few years] we’re going to see a number of senior accomplished developers leave these mega-corporations and go on their own because these are the people who want to create something new, something exciting," said Reggie. "They’ve got a game idea in the back of their head that they want to bring to fruition and the fact of the matter is in the big mega studios, they’re working on the next sequel. They’re working on the next Halo, they’re working on the next fill-in-the-blank that was a part of that prior studio. You’re typically not seeing a lot of innovation coming from those mega development combinations.

"So, I do think senior developers are going to go on their own, and bring new creative content to the industry. In the end, that’s going to be a good thing," he added. "I am hopeful, and dare I say optimistic, that a number of developers will go out on their own, because I do think that’s going to drive more and more innovation for the industry."

Of course, those new studios might still work with the big corporations to get off the ground, but the beauty of games nowadays is that all it really takes is one person with a bit of skill and an idea.

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