Indies will lead the way in next-gen development - FreeStyle

The independent spirit is fighting fit at FreeStyle Games, who believe that small teams will teach big studios and publishers how to develop compelling titles for next-gen home consoles.

Speaking in a interview to be published on GamesIndustry.biz next week, commercial director Chris Lee is confident that tightly knit teams have the advantage over mammoth development studios.

"Independents are going to be an exciting group to watch in terms of what it really takes to deliver a next-gen product," said Lee

"I don't see any reason why a really talented group of people who are ultra-focused with a very efficient tool chain couldn't deliver a triple-A product with a team of 30 people. There's nothing in the world to suggest that's not possible."

While super-publishers are putting hundreds to work on franchises and quoting massive development costs for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 projects, FreeStyle believes the real innovation will come from a team enjoying its work and developing new gaming experiences.

When asked whether bigger companies are likely to learn from smaller developers over the coming years, Lee replied: "I would expect that to be the case. I hope we teach based around two things - the fact that you can innovate with a small team and you can really deliver something that's truly exciting. That's something the industry is craving for."

"We'll do it with less people and we'll have a hell of a lot of fun doing it at the same time. I'm not sure you could say that for a lot of the bigger teams. If you walk into a group of 120 people and you actually only have a handful of friends because you don't know the names of half of the team it can be soul destroying."

Lee does acknowledge that projects with a large head-count are necessary for some types of game, adding: "I actually think that for some products, yes, you're going to need a really big team. But I also think that there's a danger of having lots of people and just retrofitting the volume of people you've got on to a project."

"There are some company's approaching it that way because they know no different. And then there are others who are approaching next-gen development and asking, what do we need to get the job done if we're really efficient and nail our design, production plans and objectives early?"

"The industry isn't necessarily craving for more polygons, better physics and prettier visuals. All that is going to come, but it's going to be a secondary part of the next-generation experience," added Lee.

"The real next-gen experience is about new forms of fun and independent studios are better placed creatively to deliver on that."