â??I began to value publishers when I turned indieâ??

Fable II lead developer Dene Carter has left Lionhead to start his own indie outfit – giving him the chance to really see just how useful publishers can be.

“As an indie, you quickly realise quite how much they do,” Carter told Develop.

“I used to have the usual developers’ grudging regard for people in marketing and distribution. But now I realise that this was a whole world of legal, logistical and PR rubbish I rarely had to think about, apart from when I was whinging that some marketing campaign was sub-optimal.”

Carter left Lionhead in May last year to persue a career in independent iPhone game development.

He says the reason he left was because of a diminished sense of ownership as the UK studio grew in size and stature.

Now lumbered with the duty of marketing his own titles, Carter’s view of publishers has shifted of late.

“I think it’s healthier to like something than not to, so I find myself in the happy position of being more appreciative of marketing people, and in some disagreement with Bill Hicks on the subject,” he added.