EGW 2024 intro speech - Liz Ryerson

Greetings - (intro banter)

So i have a bit of bone to pick before we start. So indulge me as i talk about this and we’ll get to the games shortly and i’ll shut up.

Lately i’ve been feeling this pervasive sense of risk aversion overtaking this industry from all different sides.

I don’t have to tell all of you that we’re in a moment where massive layoffs are ripping through the industry at unprecedented rates. And there’s a lot of people out there who can offer a lot of explanations for why this is happening - overscoping, bad management decisions, higher interest rates. but none of these explanations are exactly easy or comforting for any of us in the room that have to hear or deal with.

in many ways at this moment in time in history it feels like people in power who are making the decisions which decide the direction for all of us are increasingly unaccountable and in their own bubbles, and they’re not listening to anything outside.

times of uncertainty often lead to narrowing of horizons in many different ways - things regress. people become more conservative and risk-averse. projects stop getting funding that would before. and a lot more work that comes out of its becomes more safe, way more targeted, and usually: a lot more samey.

I think that’s the death spiral of the industry - and it’s also the enemy to what this session has represented. the purpose of experimentation goes beyond game mechanics to things that experiment with mood, aesthetics, story, context. All of these things frequently intermingle in interesting and new ways.

We want to have a place to exhibit and celebrate creative work from all kinds of different contexts and genres - an eclectic curation that represents a whole bunch of different kinds of people and experiences. This often means embracing games that are commercial failures - that never have a chance to even be successful. that’s okay - because it at least gives us a place where we can talk about ideas free from marketing speak. Where every decision we make doesn’t have to be oriented around the market. and we don't actually get very many opportunities to do that, especially not anymore.

There’s a question i ask sometimes when i see some things these days that are so micro-targeted in every conceivable way - why are you doing this? Why are you making this? That’s something to think about as we go home after this year’s GDC. why are we here, and what can we do about it?

I don’t have an easy answer to this. But i do want to say - if you value this space please show your support, not just to this session but experimentation. yes, GDC session feedback helps a lot - but we can go further than that. we need to develop communities that actively encourage experimentation at a greater scale. Not just at GDC or conferences either, but locally. And it’s not just because we think it’s cool or fun or whatever - which it is, by the way!! - experimentation is what keeps this industry running. It’s what keeps games being relevant. and There is no industry without the games. The business side doesn’t exist without the games. We need to remember that - and the people with money and power in this industry making the big decisions definitely need to be reminded of that.