Acclaim's Perry: Concept Of Media 'Ownership' Rapidly Retreating

Author: by Staff, Mathew Kumar

As part of an in-depth new interview posted on Gamasutra today, Acclaim CCO and Shiny veteran David Perry (Earthworm Jim) has been suggesting that the "concept of [game/music/movie] ownership is going to go away" as Internet speeds increase, and noting that Valve's Steam store is "pure genius" in terms of digital delivery. As part of the interview, which discusses the free-to-play PC MMO-based titles that Perry is helping to bring to market through the revitalized Acclaim, the designer is asked how consumer habits are being changed by the 'free to play' model. He explains: "You know the company Netflix? Well, what happened? They came along with a disruptive model. I was used to buying DVDs and I had racks full of DVDs until Netflix came along and now I have that I want, whenever I want, for a low subscription fee. It's killing Blockbuster. It's just disruption. I'm actually of the opinion that with all media, the concept of ownership is going to go away. Owning a film isn't going to matter anymore. I have a three year-old daughter, and when she's grown up, when you think about the connection speeds and networks, she's just going to think about wanting to watch a film, any film, and it's going to be on her television. That's just how the world is going to be. Music is going to be the same. People are already working on it. I can't possibly imagine what is going to make games not work the same way, even with the huge amount of data that is required. The days of waiting for the distributor to deliver the games to the store and then waiting for the doors to open are numbered. You'll have a game within an hour of its release." A follow-up question asked whether Perry was impressed by distribution systems such as Steam, even though you're purchasing the titles outright - to which he replied: "I think it's pure genius. Gabe Newell is going to make billions. If he doesn't sell it, and just keeps improving the service and increasing the infrastructure, getting more developers and publishers to sign up with him, it's going to be worth a fortune." You can now read the full Gamasutra interview with Perry, also discussing his many projects such as consulting on The Simpsons Game, as well as his thoughts on the Asian MMO market and his attempts to bring those titles to the West.