GU, Forbeck, and Independent Games

Excerpt from "State of the Gaming Industry 2002" by Matt Forbeck.
From Games Unplugged Issue 17 (June 2002).

The Real Independents

I'm not denigrating the independents for their efforts. For them, however, this is a labor of love, not a true stab at building a business. Most of these companies are run by one or two people who are truly passionate about games, and it shows in their products.

Case in point: Ron Edwards of Adept Press. Ron started out publishing his games on the web in electronic format. Last summer he moved into the "real" world of publishing with a hardcover version of his much-lauded Sorcerer roleplaying game. While Sorcerer is never going to be the next Pokemon, Ron doesn't care. The profit motive, while there--not on likes to lose money--is really beside the point.

Some of these independent games--like Jason Blair's Little Fears or Hogshead Publishing's De Profundis, along with Sorcerer--are true gems. As they speak to sophisticated gamers, their audiences are naturally limiated, but for those of us fortunate enough to fall into their target market, we are in for some real treats.

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For those of you who don't know, Matt Forbeck has done so much work in the industry it would take a savant to give a full account. He's probably best known for his work on Deadlands and Brave New World (but, like I said, he's done much, much more). I met Matt at GenCon 2001 and was lucky enough to get invited to his birthday party (the party also celebrated the fact it was Matt's zillionth consecutive GenCon). Anyway, Matt's a really nice guy.

I consider falling within his radar a big deal. Not just for Little Fears, but for indies in general. It's good to know that someone who is very much "industry" is keeping his eye on the indie scene.