Julian Gollop’s PC Gamer column
(Image credit: Snapshot Games)
Did you know that Julian Gollop wrote four columns for us, covering topics such as building deckbuilder style? Find them all here (Opens in new tab).
Epic’s strategy of Time exclusives helped make it an established source of videogame deals, but not without prompting some vitriol — some from people with understandable complaints, but a lot from Steam stans. This vitriol is often directed toward developers who accept these deals, too, as did Phoenix Point (opens in new tab) in association with the studio Snapshot Games Store. However, that hasn’t soured the strategy of CEO and X-Com creator Julian Golop.
“When we did our Epic Exclusive — it was the early days of Epic Store promotions — yes, there was a lot of animosity. And there were also a lot of conspiracy theories about it. Whole Chinese spyware and everyone else. Obviously, it fixed a bit. It’s done, and Epic has been great for many indies, actually. It was just another way to get funding, of course, which is very difficult to get with an indie studio. So overall, it’s a lot. Nice positive for Phoenix Point. We had extra money that went into making the game, which we wouldn’t have had otherwise. So it really helped with the quality of the game, helping us release it sooner rather than later of and enabled us to put in more content so that was cool.”
It was another way to get funding, of course, which is very difficult to get with an indie studio.
Julian Golop
Steam, of course, gives developers access to a huge audience, so waiting a year before releasing it on the platform still comes with some risks. “It’s always better to have as wide a reach to the storefront as possible,” admits Golop. “If you have the money to get to that finishing line, to get a game into releasable condition. But it’s usually not that easy, and developers have to find other ways to secure the funding they need.” Have to look for it.”
Releasing a game on Steam doesn’t mean you actually have access to all those users. Discoverability remains a big concern for everyone, especially those in small or independent studios. Valve has attempted to mitigate this with things like Discovery Q and Steam Next Fest, but the amount of competition facing each game can sometimes seem insurmountable. With the Epic Exclusive, though, there’s more of a push—a guarantee that Epic will try to put it in front of as many eyes as possible.
A staggered release also comes with some benefits. A second launch allows developers and publishers to rekindle the excitement, and in Phoenix Point’s case it means new players got a better game. A year after Epic’s launch, Snapshot Games introduced several updates, balance tweaks, and other improvements.
(Image credit: Snapshot Games)
“When we initially released the game after Kickstarter, we knew we needed better tutorials,” Golop says. “It actually took us about a year – we did a lot of work on the game after the initial release in 2019. When it came to the Steam release in 2020, we had a much better, much better tutorial that gave a lot of story. Great introduction to the game, and I think it was appreciated by a lot of new players.”
There’s an argument that developers are using Epic Launch as an unofficial beta, polishing things up ahead of the “main” launch on Steam, but releasing post-launch improvements and updates is the nature of modern game development. Some games, at least amongst those teams that are still actively chipping away, don’t see some improvement for a year after launch.
As well as the Epic deal, Snapshot Games used Kickstarter and Fig to fund Phoenix Point, which helped the studio go from 20 employees to 60 by 2020. Since then, it has been spun off by Embraer, and is now a division of Saber Interactive. With so much competition and a constant stream of acquisitions, I wondered whether Golop thought there was still room for studios to go it alone.
Once you reach a certain size and a lot of money is gone each month, long-term security becomes a fairly difficult strategic question.
Julian Golop
“For a more mid-sized indie studio, I’d say it’s probably quite hard. Once you reach a certain size and a lot of money is flowing in each month, long-term security becomes a fairly difficult strategic question. And it is very difficult to do this, especially if you are self-publishing and are counting on every next title to be a hit or at least profitable. That’s why companies have to sell to large entities. The advantage with Embraer, however, is that it’s largely still a collection of independently operated studios. It doesn’t look like a monolithic entity like the traditional publishing model where large Publishers would buy studios and try to assimilate them as some sort of Borg-like entity.”
What Gallup and the team are working on Embraer in Snapshot will need to remain a mystery for now, but they recently released Phoenix Point: Complete Edition (opens in a new tab), which includes Steam Workshop support. which includes the future of the future. The game in the hands of its players.
Source
