I've had a lot of questions brewing for the Game Developers Association of Australia for quite a while now, and when the opportunity arose to interview GDAA president, Tom Crago, I thought it was the perfect time and a great opportunity to send the interview his way, particularly in the aftermath of the Government rebate situation.
A big thanks to Tom Crago for his time in answering these questions!
Hi Tom, thanks for chatting with us. Can you tell us about yourself and your position at the Game Developers Association of Australia?
Tom Crago: I've been the CEO of Tantalus for nearly six years now. I'm also taking a turn as President of the GDAA. We have an Executive Director who runs the association, and the practice is that the President comes from industry. Adam Lancman was President for a number of years.
How was the inaugural Game Connect: Asia Pacific conference last year? Were there any lessons learnt from that first conference and are there any changes expected for the next upcoming GC:AP 07 conference?
TC: Last year marked the transition from AGDC to GCAP and it was the first time the GDAA had run the annual conference. We put on a good event in Brisbane, but it will be bigger and better this year in Melbourne. We have a great line up of speakers and really a lot of focus will be on the games that Australian studios have shipped this year. It's been a pretty amazing period for our local industry. I'd encourage anyone who possibly can to get along to GCAP. It's a great place to find out more about the industry, and in terms of networking it can't be beaten. You're literally rubbing shoulders with all the key players in the Australian industry. There's more information at the website, www.gameconnectap.com
Late last year, the GDAA dropped the E3 expo as the destination for the local contingent of developers in favour for the GDC in San Francisco. How have you found the GDC compared to E3 as a venue to do business, as well as showcase and promote the industry?
TC: You know, I think it's better. E3 really did become too crowded and the message was getting diluted. We'll attend a number of different shows and events next year. This year has really been about getting the lay of the land in this post E3 world.
What are your opinions on the importance of: original IP, business with the Asia Pacific region, and service for hire work. Should any of these have precedence over the others in importance for the industry?
TC: Well look we all keep the lights on thanks to fee-for-service work. At Tantalus it has accounted for nearly all of our income since we started up in 1994, and in the process we've built great relationships with publishers like THQ, Eidos and Atari. That said, we're all conscious of the Holy Grail that is Original IP. To be able to successfully commercialise an original concept is not only very lucrative, it's also incredibly satisfying creatively. We have original titles in development at Tantalus, and I suspect most studios in Australia have something home grown on the go. I don't think it's a matter of choosing one road or the other. I like to think of it as a continuum; where you move back and forth doing more fee-for-service or less, depending on how things are tracking.
Phil Harrison, president of worldwide studios for Sony Computer Entertainment, commented last year that the local industry lacked the ambition to compete on the global stage, and that we needed to specialize. What are your thoughts on his comments? (source)
Phil Harrison: "If you want to compete on the global stage you have to compare and compete effectively with the best of Europe, Japan and the US," he says. "I just haven't seen generally the huge creative passion to build something that's going to shake the Earth to its core. But I believe it has the determination to change."
Mr Harrison says the choice facing Australian developers is adapt or die. "That's not a criticism, it's a reality," he says. "They either need to become very much larger or very much more specialised. The small, general game development company that does everything in one game will not survive on the global stage."
TC: It is interesting reading those comments isn't it. Phil's a friend and I have a huge amount of respect for him, but I think our diversity and adaptability have been strengths rather than hindrances. We can do anything here in Australia; from one of the biggest budget PS3 titles in development anywhere in the world (La Noire), to one the most ambitions MMOG's (Fury), through to genre defying handheld titles (Puzzle Quest) and mass appeal million-unit-sellers (Pony Friends). It's also the case that the success of the Nintendo platforms (DS and Wii) have been great for Australian developers. The view that every video game would have a $10 million budget by 2007 was, of course, a fallacy. In terms of quality and creativity, I reckon that the work that Irrational in Canberra did on BioShock, and the Destroy All Humans games from Pandemic in Brisbane speak pretty loudly to the talent we have down here.
The GDAA had a great initiative of organising Playstation 2 kits to developers, relieving them from the high licensing costs to acquire those kits. As the focus has shifted to Xbox Live Arcade kits, do you see this as an important market for developers and new startups? Can you describe the process for developers who are interested in obtaining those kits?
TC: Well the Xbox 360 kits are for regular 360 development as well as Live Arcade. We're very grateful to Microsoft and to the Victorian Government for helping us with this program. At this stage, it's only open to Victorian developers, and the first round of applications have closed, but you can find out more information at the GDAA website: www.gdaa.com.au
The GDAA has recently had a setback after their biggest ever campaign for the same Government rebates that the film industry enjoys. Apart from the call for community support on the petition, what's the next step now?
TC: We continue to lobby the Government, and the other political parties. This really is something gamers should be angry about. Despite the contribution we make to the economy, and despite the fact that video games are the art form of the 21st century, we have once again been marginalised and ignored. It's quite extraordinary reading the government literature on this issue. Can you imagine talking about 'screen culture' and not including video games? I'd encourage everyone to help with our petition. All we're asking for is a level playing field, and we're a long way from throwing in the towel.
When the industries in Canada and France are thriving due to support from their Government, and with reports of the AU$110 million revenue that the industry earns (from the 2006 Australian Electronic Game Profile Report, a study commissioned by the GDAA), as well as the numerous export awards that many local game developers have received over the years (from Krome Studios to Micro Forte, and most recently Firemint and Torus), and even after several years of effort by the GDAA, how do you explain the reluctance of Government to support the industry?
TC: Mate, I can't explain it. It is a mystery to me.
In a segment on the 7:30 report, Geoff Brown (Screen Producers Association) hit back at a rebate for the games industry because it didn't fit any social and cultural value for the Government. He also expressed concern that it could erode the funding for film industries. Do you think this is a fair argument? (Source)
TC: It's a real shame that the film and TV industries have been actively lobying against a level playing field with video games. In terms of the 'cultural significance' argument, I'm potentially the wrong person to ask, as I've never really understood what it meant. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Australian film and I think all the support the industry gets is well deserved. Quite simply, though, it's time everybody woke up and realised that video games are no longer the 'next big thing', they're the big thing right now. We have a huge opportunity to capitalise on this in Australia at present.
At a public hearing for the House of Representatives Standing Committee which the Games Developer Association of Australia (with Eveyln Richardson and the late Adam Lancman) took place in 2003 with the aim examining and considering any Government assistance for the industry, there were some some interesting arguments against assistance (Source). A transcript is as follows :
Mr BALDWIN - You said that the Victorian government are providing a subsidy for development kits.
Mr Lancman - Yes. Queensland will be doing -
Mr BALDWIN - And Queensland will be doing it. How do we then answer the question from a young start-up in the truck driving business who would expect the government then to subsidise their truck?
Mr Lancman - We are talking about an industry that is in an export market. It is an existing export market and there is a huge potential for growth. As I said earlier, with respect to the global dollars being spent on games, it is growing 20 or 30 per cent a year.
Mr BALDWIN - I don't have trouble with what you are saying to me, but it is a comment that comes back to me every time any government uses taxpayers' funds to subsidise anything. They say, "What about this industry? They receive nothing."
...
Mr CIOBO - Just from what I am hearing, it would seem to me in terms of attracting production the last thing - I cannot speak on behalf of the committee - from my perspective that I would like to pursue is to get into a Dutch auction on these types of issues with taxpayer funds, because it just leads to an unsustainable industry.
The arguments against Government support for the industry has been of two points: Propping up an industry leads to an unsustainable industry, and why should the Government put the local games industry above any other industry in Australia? Both are convincing arguments. What would your response to that be?
TC: The Australian video game industry should be supported by the Federal Government for exactly the same reasons that the Australian film and television industries are supported. Quite aside from the economic benefit and the impact on employment, games are an important part of our cultural landscape. In my view they're actually just as important as film and television. The games industry is also exactly the type of industry that Governments should be getting behind. It's clean, green, highly skilled, and almost 100% export orientated. It is, to follow through on Mr Baldwin's analogy, the exact opposite of the trucking industry.
Over the years, we've seen in increasing presence of studios backed by overseas companies in Australia, and with the recent acquisition of studios such as IR Gurus and mobile games developer Viva La Mobile, do you see this as a worrying sign for the industry?
TC: Not at all. We all want a bigger industry here in Australia and these deals help facilitate more growth. I know IR Gurus have big expansion plans, and you only have to look at how Blue Tongue have done under THQ to see the benefits that an acquisition can bring. Those guys are about to release an original title (de Blob) on Wii. It's actually taken them getting bought by THQ to enable them to realise their dream of working on an original IP! Of course, we also want to see new companies starting, and small independent companies becoming large independent companies. That's certainly happening, just take a look at Firemint and Halfbrick. Those guys were tiny not so long ago and now they're major players in the industry.
Although educational institutions like Qantm and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment are witnessing record numbers of students applications every year, the local industry currently seems to be facing a crisis with finding enough talent, particularly in the programming field. There also seems to be a shortfall of experienced senior talent as well, with many developers having difficultly in finding staff for those openings. What is being done or what can be done to solve these issues?
TC: We're trying to work with the educational institutions to ensure that there is a steady flow of talent. It is tough, though, and at present demand far exceeds supply. We need to do more to encourage school kids to think about video games as a viable career.
The industry has been described as "at a crossroads" for a short while now, how do you think it's doing overall?
TC: Actually I think we're doing pretty well. 2007 has been the best year ever for Australian developed titles, something we'll be celebrating at GCAP. Like I said earlier, the Wii and DS have been very good for our industry, and we hope now that PS3 and 360 sales will ramp up so that we start to get some more deal flow there too. Things are good but they could be better. Certainly, if we were to receive the Federal Government rebate I think we could triple in size. We'd also see a lot more original IP development. I want to thank Sumea too for your role in promoting the local industry. It's amazing what a hub this site has become, you do a great job.
The Game Developers Association of Australia has details on how you can voice your disappointment on the recent Government snubbing of a fair rebate for the local games industry. Sumea feels this is an important issue that needs all your support, and we encourage you to contact Senator Helen Coonan or your local member about it. The GDAA have a sample email you can use as well as the contact details you need to send it off to. More details at the GDAA website.