Rick Gibson: ‘UK studios are ignoring the online opportunity’

In his new Develop column Rick Gibson, a director at Games Investing Consulting, has suggested UK studios are yet to realise the full potential offered by developing for the emerging online markets.

"Many are ignoring the opportunity to return to their game-changing roots," said Gibson, talking about creating titles for online, "while the costs are still bearable and routes to market are manifold."

"Whatever your opinion, it’s been a long time since new formats could be made and distributed to a mass market so cheaply or democratically."

Concluding his feature, which speculates that online offers developers a chance to return to the creative processes of the early days of the industry, Gibson added: "These lower barriers to entry mean that online has higher innovation potential and is crying out for the outstanding creative, technical and design skills found in abundance amongst independents."

According to Gibson, online games grossed over $10 billion in 2008, and the sector looks set to continue to expand.

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