AAA Lets Indie Games Take Big Risks, Says The Binding of Isaac Creator Edmund McMillen, Then ‘The Mainstream Takes What Worked’ and ‘Cashed in’ the ‘Safe’ Way
Edmund McMillen believes that mainstream video games shamelessly borrow ideas from riskier, more ambitious indie games – and as the designer behind indie hits Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac and the upcoming tactical RPG Mewgenics, he gets there with experience.
He shares his thoughts in a recent Reddit AMA, responding to a fan who asked: “It feels like there’s never been a better time to get into indie gaming, do you think developers feel the same way?” Or is this lingering sense of unsustainability plaguing the AAA industry also impacting indie developers?
“Then the general public takes what worked with the independents, repackages it in a safe way, and benefits from it,” McMillen concludes. He adds a winky face emoticon for emphasis, and I think it’s justified.
Think about how (arguably, at least according to The Game Awards) indie game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 inspired people to start begging Final Fantasy developer Square Enix to return to turn-based combat – not the other way around. It’s a wink-wink moment, that’s for sure.
Of his own creative process when making indie games, McMillen explains in another comment: “I have a feeling and an idea or a mechanic and I spin it around in my brain until it gets all pulpy and gross.” […] my plan becomes a thing, a thing becomes a thing and soon a baby comes out of my anus! ” See, you will never hear Ubisoft say something like that.
The Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen says he only made the genre-defining hit to try out a “basic roguelike” and “get his toes in the water” before his true magnum opus.
