Will Wright On The Evolution of the Games Industry

In Episode 2 of Game Industry TV's video game show, Game Theory with Scott Steinberg, the topic of lessons learned is front and center. The overarching theme of the show is "has the game industry learned its lesson?"

There's no denying that the game industry is struggling in the midst of a sour economy, declining sales, cutbacks to staff and studio closures and competition from social networks. The show explores whether developers and publishers like Activision, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are adapting fast enough to survive in the face of growing competition from social networks, downloadable titles and free online games.

One excerpt of particular interest is with Will Wright, creator of The Sims and Spore, who says that the industry needs an evolution not unlike what transformed the human race from primordial ooze to its present state of existence:

I think we're in the Cambrian explosion of games, where all these weird new life forms are popping out for the very first time and filling these niches that are appearing dramatically," Says Wright. "And of course a lot of the old, established things are going to be dying off pretty rapidly, even the major life forms. But more than anything else, I see this being the healthiest thing that could happen in the industry."

But to the detriment and benefit of which companies? Wright doesn't answer that question, but he sees the industry -- the biggest players - in the same holding pattern they were in in 2009:

"Overall, the industry is on the same general path. We are still today in a world of retail. That's the way it will be for the short-term," he said. "Long-term, this industry is going digital, and it's going digital very quickly.

"To some extent, as the retailers come up with policies like used games, they're actually putting their foot on the gas pedal to oblivion. And that ultimately is going to make the game industry digital about as fast as it could possibly be," he added.

Interesting stuff. The second episode also features further comments from Wright, Dave Perry, Michael Pachter, Trip Hawkins, Clint Hocking, Chris Taylor, Lorne Lanning and others. Find it at GamesIndustry.biz now.