CGDC '97 Roundtable Report

Three sessions devoted to the future of strategy games produced a large, lively, and varied audience with different views on the direction of computer gaming's biggest genre.

The topics were similar from session to session, but there was less than unanimous agreement about the direction and impact of these concepts.

Topics (and viewpoints expressed), included:

Real-Time vs. Turn-Based Games -- While real time games have become dominant in the last two years, most participants agreed that turn-based strategy games are not dead, and will survive, albeit as a smaller component of the genre.

On-Line Participants felt that the rise of on-line games was a huge factor in the present and future of strategy games, and is largely responsible for the rise of real-time games. There was disagreement as to whether a strong on-line component is critical to succes in strategy games. Some felt that a strong single player game could still do well. Others, citing pressure from marketing types, argued that without good on-line support, a strategy game will be confined to a narrow and unprofitable niche.

Categories of Strategy Games -- (The Command and Conquer Revolution) -- Everyone felt that the domination of C&C and it's clones is an aberration, much like the onslaught of Doom clones two years ago. People felt that the C & C clones would continue to be important into the future, but at a lesser level than recently. Only games that truly innovate within this niche will distinguish themselves.

Art Budgets -- Participants agreed that the big art budgets of recent blockbuster strategy hits are here to stay, and Òlone wolfÓ strategy programmers will struggle. However, participants did not expect to see a vast increase in art budgets either, as things are currently at a sustainable level only.

3D vs. 2D -- There was a split between advocates of 2D and 3D for strategy games. While most strategy games have been 2D up until now, several people, including some who had done 2D games in the past, felt that 3D would inevitably dominate in strategy games, as it has in action and other categories. 2D advocates felt that 3D graphics were unnecessary and unlikely to have a major near-term impact on this genre.

Expanding the Market -- Everyone wanted to see the strategy market expand. A lot of folks advocated targeting the female market more, generally by decreasing violence and competition, and moving more towards building and exploring games. A few dissenters felt that women would never constitute a large component of the strategy market, and noted that recent hits such as Diablo, C&C and Warcraft are even more violent than past strategy games.

Summary:

Participants are upbeat about the future of strategy games. Perhaps the biggest areas of contention were real-time vs. turn based, on-line vs. solo play, and 2D graphics vs. 3D graphics. From the comments of the participants, it seems they are taking many different approaches to these and other divisive issues, and we should expect to see a bumper crop of varied strategy games coming down the pike in the next 12 to 18 months.