Bungie Co-Founder Alex Seropian Predicts A Major Shift In The Gaming Industry

Alex: I’m lucky to have discovered the games business when it was still pretty young. In the nineties, we could build meaningful, fun experiences with a small, fast team and learn quickly. Today, new platforms like UEFN and Roblox offer that same environment of quick iteration and learning. I think it will usher in a whole new generation of creativity for games.

Alex: Correct. Look North World develops premium, innovative, shareable experiences within leading creator platforms. We see that gamers are adopting their favorite games as platforms. They’ve basically become their console or game library, and they’re more open to new experiences within that ecosystem rather than outside of it. There are also benefits like having a familiar UI, game feel, or friends list.

In the future, I see UGC platforms bringing more change to how we create and play, but also interestingly, where we play. Applications like Discord and Telegram are going to become places to experience the latest buzz-worthy game experiences. Further, other studios will begin to embrace UGC platforms rather than ignore or even fear them. We’ll see studios offer samples of their games, or the full game itself, within platforms like Fortnite. Fortnite has the potential to become the Steam of the future, as wild as that may sound.

Alex: Exactly. I think studios are realizing that if you build it, gamers don’t simply come. You used to get a big ad in a game magazine or prime real estate at the game store, and then it became the big banner in the game download store. Did you know most gameplay time is in games that are seven years old, or older? Players are loading their favorite games to discover what’s new. They start there! So you need to meet them where they are.

In the future, we’ll see AAA games like Call of Duty or Halo introduce a sample experience within Fortnite. Perhaps for a weekend, you’ll be able to play a true recreation of a game mode to get gamers and, more importantly, their friends to try the game together. Since many of these titles are built in Unreal Engine, it’s more achievable than you may think. Gamers are telling studios that they don’t want to download new launchers or big game demos; they just want to click and enjoy with their friends. So, the smart studios will begin to release their demos in Fortnite, possibly skipping Steam or the Microsoft Store altogether.

Alex: Yes, Discord and Telegram are two channels to watch. They’re becoming places where UGC can shine, with big groups of gamers who want seamless experiences. We’ll definitely see more games on these platforms.

Alex: Many studios are a little hesitant to work with streamers. They think studios are the experts, and streamers are perhaps seen as an advertising channel. The playbook so far has been to engage streamers with paid sponsorships or, if you’re innovative, give them a skin or map inside of your game. This worked when studios knew what gamers wanted and let creators be the amplifiers.

Nowadays, we’re seeing studios struggle to predict what gamers want. Even when they can, development cycles are long, the business has to shove in all of these launcher or monetization requirements, or players grow tired of a familiar IP. But creators understand what today’s gamers are like. They talk to them all day. They are gamers themselves, so they’re playing games all day. And what the industry will learn from Lethal Company and Animal Well is that influencers can steer the ship rather than have a seat in the “paid amplifier” chair.

Innovative studios will partner with creators to develop game titles from scratch together. Instead of influencers making a skin, they’ll be involved in making the entire game. Influencers will do this alone, with or without studios, so the smart studios will get involved and give influencers a chance to recreate beloved IPs or create something new.

Alex: There are about 650 Million registered users on Discord. And it’s not only huge, but it connects gamers across all their favorite games. It has the potential to be the best game discovery medium because of its scale, targeted audience, and position as a meta-platform on top of the games we are already playing. The fact that you can build games to play there now is just wild.

Alex: AAA games are awesome and are not going away. More and more, though, they are becoming the domain of the multi-billion dollar publishers who can uniquely take the $100 Million bets. That said, big-budget single-player experiences are not providing great returns for studios right now. They are expensive and risky, and in an environment with more choices and rising costs, the risks are getting higher.

We’ll see less creativity and more “sure things” at the high end. So the question is: do you rethink your approach to these experiences, perhaps by working with influencers as we discussed, or do you shift your focus? Maybe tomorrow’s great AAA single-player title is directed by your favorite creator. Maybe tomorrow’s great AAA single-player title will actually be released in 30-minute installments over a year within a UGC platform. I love single-player stories, but gamers are telling us they want more timely, sharable, and accessible experiences. So we should listen.

Alex: I think we are going to see a boon of new game types as a result of platforms and tools that provide fast iteration alongside an audience. UEFN & Roblox are the tip of the iceberg; AI will likely improve the speed at which we can create. Iteration speed is such a powerful unlock to creativity. I am excited to see and play the games that come in the next few years.

Alex: I love our GameJams as they are a place for us to work on ideas that we wouldn’t necessarily get a chance to try in a commercial setting and, more importantly, on ideas that come from a really diverse set of voices, including people in our community. The standout to me is the passion, drive, and great and different thinking that I witness in these GameJams. It’s inspiring to me (and I’m an old, jaded game developer!) and gives me so much hope for the future of our craft.

Alex: Hopefully, companies are more fearless with their IP. Guarding their IP closely makes sense, but we’re entering a new world. You have to ask yourself, if I decline an opportunity for my beloved character to star in this unexpected game event, which of my competitors will take this amazing opportunity? If I file a takedown for an awesome piece of creator content, what audience am I hurting? Hopefully, we will rethink the rules.

Alex: We can all tell if a streaming service’s new movie was made because someone had an amazing story to tell or because that streaming service just needs content. Just by looking at the key art. Well, why are we surprised that gamers can do this with live-service games? Instead of looking at competitors and saying, “How do we make our own version of that?” the conversation should be, “What experiences are we dying to create?” Gamers today immediately spot the “We need a live-service hit” game. Don’t be that game! No excuses.

Alex: It’s really hard to set out to build a UGC platform that can scale from scratch. If you look at UEFN and Minecraft and where the Sims are likely going, those communities and markets are built on top of existing success, a strong player base, social online play, and good tools.

Alex: GTA 6 is going to be huge. Understated prediction of all time. At a macro level, though, we will likely see validation that being successful at the high end of the market takes a lot of money, time, and patience. I expect GTA 6 to be invigorating for gamers and the industry in general.