Finally,
even games companies that have company-wide ideologies and the strong
indoctrination processes to create the cult-like atmosphere Collins
and Porras describe still need to set themselves big hairy audacious
goals. Audacious goals of visionary companies described in Built
to Last include Boeing's project to make a commercial jet even though
the airlines had gone so far as to say they wouldn't be interested.
Boeing did anyway at great financial risk, and within a few short
years all the airlines were phasing out their prop planes almost
entirely.
It is possible
that id's decision to make Wolfenstein 3D when action games were
entirely 2D counts as a BHAG, and likewise the invention of deathmatch
for Doom, but it is unclear from an outsider's perspective whether
these were treated as BHAGs or just naturally evolved. In recent
years, id's decision to postpone the indoor/outdoor Trinity project
and make another indoor, deathmatch game could be seen as somewhat
less than visionary. Indoor/outdoor in itself may not actually be
that audacious of a goal anyway, as the 3D engines which were popularized
largely by Wolf 3D are slowly evolving into it as hardware and software
technology develops.
The previous
examples of applying the ideas in Built to Last to the games industry
are largely conjecture on my part. The important point, as noted
by the authors themselves, is that this book pretty readily disproves
most conventional business thinking, and our developing industry
is in real need of thinking that goes far beyond the conventional.
It is unlikely that more than a handful of companies in our industry
could ever become true visionaries – one piece of information
the book does not provide is how many other companies they would
consider visionary beyond the 18 they studied. My guess is there
would not be very many, and this book sampled from many industries.
However, even if no games companies managed a full transition to
visionary status, the very attempt to analyze their internal practices
could be helpful.
The games
company is not going to go away at this point, and companies which
hope to last need to do more than just follow trends and acquire
licenses in an attempt to maximize profits. The fact that the book's
title is Built to Last is not coincidence: these are companies that
have found formulas that enable them to survive and in the long
run to prosper. Game developers come and go so quickly that some
don't even publish a game before their principals find themselves
looking for a new job. Any ideas to reverse this trend should be
studied closely.
- Richard
“Beaker” Wyckoff is a game designer, not a level designer,
damnit!
