Exabyte Games takes on Gamescom 2023!

From left to right: CTO Ben Clothier, CEO Sam Clothier & CMO Ewan Hart

Gamescom 2023 was a whirlwind of excitement and innovation for the gaming industry, and we were there to soak it all in. This year's event was particularly special for our gaming company as we ventured into the heart of Cologne, Germany, to immerse ourselves in the latest gaming trends, technologies, and, most importantly, the incredible indie games that captivated our hearts and minds.

While Gamescom is renowned for featuring blockbuster titles and massive gaming announcements, it was the indie genre that truly stole the show for us at Exabyte Games. The independent developers showcased their games, delivering fresh and imaginative experiences that inspired us to talk about our position within the creative field of gaming. In the vast and ever-evolving landscape of the gaming industry, small indie developers like ourselves often find themselves navigating uncharted territory. The allure of triple A titles and their massive budgets can sometimes overshadow the creativity, innovation, and sheer determination that indie developers bring to the table. However, the indie gaming scene remains vibrant and innovative, with many small studios producing creative and unique experiences. These indie games often explore new genres, art styles, and storytelling techniques, appealing to gamers seeking fresh and unconventional gaming experiences.

The team head over to the Xbox area

As we strolled through the bustling halls of Gamescom, we couldn't help but notice the palpable dedication of indie developers. They put their all into their creations, delivering unique and meaningful gaming experiences with captivating narratives, inventive gameplay mechanics and unconventional art styles. They stand out as symbols of diversity and creativity, breathing fresh and unconventional ideas into the gaming world. Discovering these indie titles wasn't just a Gamescom highlight; it was a celebration of the innovative spirit driving the gaming industry forward, one brilliant idea at a time. Please check out the following games & studios for some of our favourites: Diplomacy Is Not An Option (Door 407) https://www.door407.com/projects Cataclismo (Digital Sun) https://www.digitalsungames.com/games/cataclismo/ Fireside (Emergo Entertainment) https://emergo-entertainment.com/games/ Classified: France 44 (Team 17) https://www.team17.com/games/classified-france-44/ Caves of Qud (Freehold Games) https://www.cavesofqud.com/

Sam trials ‘Diplomacy Is Not An Option’ by Door 407

One of the joys of attending Gamescom is the opportunity to interact with developers directly. Engaging in such discussions at Gamescom, we were granted unique access to the creative processes, inspirations, and dedication that fuels the indie gaming scene. The personal connection established during these encounters added depth to our Gamescom experience. It reminded us that the gaming community is just as much about the creators who bring their personal visions to life as it is about the players who enjoy them.

Ben plays and discusses ‘Caves of Qud’ with the developers from Freehold Games

We are always impressed by the innovative ideas and unwavering passion these developers bring to their projects and what really strikes us is how these small teams manage to create amazing gaming experiences. It's inspiring to witness their ability to think outside the box, experiment with unique art styles, and craft engaging stories that resonate with players. Our time on stage with Guitar Hero was a lot of fun, playing Dire Straits' "Walk of Life" to the Gamescom crowd. Sam and Ewan's enthusiastic but less-than-perfect guitar skills added charm. However, it was Ben on the drums who really set the stage on fire, nailing the rhythm and putting on quite a show. Some games are simply about having a great time with friends, regardless of hitting every note perfectly!

The team plays ‘Guitar Hero’ in the retro games area

Our Gamescom experience concluded with a delightful session of retro gaming, courtesy of one of the oldest systems in the gaming world - the Commodore 64. It’s humbling to witness the remarkable progress in gaming technology over the years, and reassuring to see that the core experience of gaming remains completely unchanged. Gamescom 2023 was an unforgettable journey for Exabyte Games. As we return, we carry with us a renewed enthusiasm and a commitment to fostering creativity and innovation within the gaming community. Exabyte Games looks forward to the future, where we hope to bring exciting new experiences to gamers worldwide. Until then, keep an eye out for the incredible indie games that are sure to make their mark on the gaming landscape in the coming years.

Exabyte Games: Our Vision

What is Exabyte Games?

I believe much of the answer lies with the humans behind the name. They make this company what it is. However, I’ll save the pleasure of introducing the amazing people that I get to work with for a future blog post. This month I’ll instead restrict my focus to the values that have brought us together and, most likely, represent the catalyst for the creation of this company.

The foremost commonality that we have is having spent years of our lives playing games. It’s fundamental to the passion we have in our work and is the reason we made the decision to spend our working lives making games. The core values of most teams would stop there. Mutual interest in video games brings us together. Sound familiar? Behind that idea, though, lies the reality.

Growing up with video games is a beautiful, but rather conflicting experience. You develop a respect for the games you played early on in your life, one that influences how you see games released when you’re older. Many see these games as a form of art. Some simply love them for the entertainment. Others derive pleasure from the distraction. When a beloved series loses its allure, comes to an end, or your all-time favourite is never quite met eye-to-eye, a longing for the past or even a frustration with the present can ensue.

As with all cultural phenomena, (1) the games industry is in constant flux. High level gradual changes in how games are made seem to exert an outsized influence on developers, biasing the titles they choose to develop and the creative decisions they take when developing them. This can incite the feeling that a good game is never quite perfect or that the majority of games no longer sit quite right with you.

I can assure you that the same beliefs are held by video game developers all over the world. If anything, developers feel this more than anyone else. They are the ones responsible for creating the next generation of games. They relish that responsibility under normal circumstances and it serves as an excellent motivator to create something new. But when forced to conform to industry trends they see as misaligned with their past experiences and joys, an inner frustration with the present can develop.

Such trends are inevitable. After all, technology continuously evolves, attitudes shift between generations, and the game development landscape adapts to reconcile these changes. Oftentimes, these changes are clearly a force for good. Take for example the recent expansion of the indie games scene (2), modern software that makes it more accessible than ever for individuals to make games, or that more people are playing video games now than ever before in history. (3)

So the question becomes: How can we harness the best of the brilliant technological breakthroughs over the last 15 years without indulging in the more pernicious techniques many developers are now being forced to implement? On the face of it, the problem looks insurmountable; if making video games is a business, it must generate a profit.

Developers have a choice. They could adopt all industry trends, or they could remain cemented in the past. Many video game studios opt for the former, while indie developers abound choose the latter. There is, however, a third option. At Exabyte Games we aim to maintain a balance by regularly reviewing whether or not the latest industry developments are in tune with our values, actively forging our own path to the future of gaming.

This informs our approach to gaming from both a technology perspective and a people perspective.

Take monetisation of free games for example. The pessimistic view exists on both sides; some say freemium games are a powerful form of entertainment but will always be used to extract every last penny from the user, others long for the days when free games didn’t exist and developers had more creative freedom. We, however, believe that one cannot simply stay in the past: some game concepts and granularities do in fact harmonize better with a free-to-play structure. Multiplayer online games and many mobile games fit this pattern. But we also believe that the primary purpose of a game is to entertain, and so development of these kinds of games should be approached with the aim of monetising sustainably, ensuring this minimally impacts the player’s experience. That means the game should be fully accessible as described and any microtransactions should only feel necessary to those who want to support development. Although this responsible implementation almost inherently reduces revenue, this should be seen as the cost of gaining the exposure associated with distributing your game to a market orders of magnitude larger than that of a paid equivalent.

In key with sustainable monetisation, we implement a rigorous approach to player privacy. No ads, no data collection, and no other companies. This one’s pretty straight-forward. If you’re playing a video game, nobody should be measuring your behaviour or recording your activity and selling it without your consent. Or with your consent for that matter.

Enabled by the advent of social media and online community hubs, the tighter relationship between players and developers has been a clear win for gaming as a whole. We take full advantage of this to increase our engagement with the community. One angle that we leverage here is the incredible feedback we get from our players. We believe the community knows where our games should go and we take pride in the vibrancy of ideas and talents volunteered to improve something we created. There are of course limitations to avoid feature creep, but with our approach the development cycle receives a welcome boost in creativity and motivation.

To tie this all together, game developers need good game concepts. Our philosophy on this is clear: Create games that you want to play yourself and don’t be afraid to mould something new beyond established genre-defined boundaries. After all, technical and creative innovations are built on elements of existing products and ideas. (4) If you create for yourself, with feedback from others, you can create something that people truly fall in love with.

Through the sometimes bewildering jungle of change, we carefully and responsibly shape our own future in the world of video games.

Sam Clothier

CEO, Exabyte Games

© 2023 Exabyte Games

Not generated by AI

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-2412-8111-6

2. https://vginsights.com/insights/article/video-game-insights-2021-market-report

3. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/255986/physical-or-digital-core-gamers-in-the-us

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=978-1948226035

Southampton Game Jam 2023 sponsored by Exabyte Games

Exabyte Games headed to Southampton last weekend to sponsor a Game Jam - an event held at the University of Southampton! CTO Ben Clothier, developer Ross Popovs and QA tester JJ Snedden were all in person for the 3-day hackathon between 3-5 February where attendees assembled teams and whipped up their own video game. The theme was 'Roots', demonstrated by both Ben and Ross in a game they coded on unity at the event.

"The first annual Global Game Jam® was held 30 January - 1 February 2009 to much critical acclaim and success. With over 1,600 participants in 23 countries, with 307 games produced around the theme of "As long as we have each other, we will never run out of problems. The GGJ has continued to grow every year.

Each GGJ edition has a theme distributed worldwide through the local organizers at the start of the jam. Participants start to work in teams, brainstorming and creating games around the theme. The theme is decided by the "Theme Committee": a team of game industry professionals that discuss different themes and options for a period of time (often for a couple of months) before the jam occurs. " - Global Game Jam

The Southampton Game Jam 2023 welcomed nearly 100 gamers to create their own game in a fun and supportive environment. Our very own developer Ross was one of the Game Jam organizers as part of the Digital Arts and Game Dev society. "The Game Jam was a blast - both to organise and to attend. It was great seeing everyone's creativity given the theme of the game jam was "Roots". There was a fair share of burrowing games, but also other interpretations of the theme including our own Ben's game about 'Root Vegetables'. Overall we had over 90 attendees and a dozen of fantastic games - I am happy that both Exabyte and the Digital Arts Society at Southampton got involved and I hope that next year's game jam will be even bigger!" - Ross

For those unable to join the event in person, the team also hosted a Discord server for people to collaborate and share their progress. However, if you were one of the lucky ones to grab a FREE ticket to the event, there was free pizza and drinks on offer; not bad for a day’s work!

Take a look at some of the games made on their official Game Jam page.