Thursday during the Developer Conference in Brighton, Chris Harris from UK indie developer Positech said that smaller developers have the advantage of building a personal relationship with the end user--thus landing an actual sale--by emailing them directly. The observation came during a public debate in regards to the future of micro-studios. He was joined on stage by a panel of three other developers: Robin Lacey (Beatnik), Sean Murray (Hello Games) and Mark Morris (Introversion).
After he made the statement, there was a "derisive snort" from one of the male conference attendees siting in the front row, followed by a comment that communicating with one customer was a waste of time. "He then started to lecture us on how that's a silly way to do it," Harris said in his blog. Harris and the other three on the panel were stunned, questioning the man's identity.
"It turned out this guy was Mark Rein from Epic, although he seemed to assume everyone within earshot knew exactly who he was, and why he must obviously be right," Harris said. He went on to call Rein a jerk in the blog.
'Now I suspect this is not groundbreaking news, although it is to me, because I've never met him or even seen him before," he added. "However, this experience seems to confirm my opinions on Epic and companies like them in general. Now Mark may well look down on humble indies like me. He may well think I'm doing it wrong."
He went on to blast the company and its games, saying that they are way too "macho and dude" for his liking. However his biggest beef was with Rein and how the "triple-A studio jerk" was trying to tell Harris--who coincidentally has run a micro-studio for 13 years now--on how to run his business.
Of course, opinions are fine when they're from peers such as Mark from Introversion--these people apparently know what it takes to run a micro-studio. "But Triple-A studio bosses trying to lecture me on how to communicate better with gamers?" he said. "F**k off."
You go boy. Sounds like Mark Rein and George Broussard soak in the same hot tub.
