David Allen Interview

Warcry has conducted an interview with David Allen, formerly of Artifact Entertainment and Pharaoh Productions, about his decision to leave the gaming industry altogether. Here’s a snip of what he had to say:

In his “eulogy message” for Pharaoh Productions, David mentions that he wants to leave the game development industry because: “I have not enjoyed the direction that the industry has taken.” I asked him to explain what he meant by that.

“Most developers are funded by publishers; VERY few are funded by angel groups. The problem starts with the publishers – they are greedy and controlling, and worst of all, they want to do as little work as possible for their huge take of profits. This filters down to the developers who are forced to work hours that are borderline illegal, and required to meet unrealistic milestones. Sleeping bags in cubicles, red bull cans all over the floor. It’s ridiculous; and for what? To release sub par products, or copies of previously existing products with a few perks?”

“People need to wake up and realize that the industry was originally founded on creativity and innovation paired with technical expertise and vision. Games were designed to offer us a new experience in an alternative ‘world’ outside of ourselves that we could enjoy.”