Facebook games are frighteningly popular and able to make huge amounts of money for very little investment. Nevertheless, major developers have thus far expressed a total disinterest in it, the latest being Bethesda’s Todd Howard.
“I’ve got to be honest, I don’t get it,” he admits. “I look at it and try to understand but for now I’ve just decided to ignore it (laughter). I think, one day, maybe I’ll figure it out, but until then, I don’t see the allure of those kinds of games. “The light bulb hasn’t gone off for me. I just don’t get it. I get these little messages: ‘I’ve got a new horse, or fish?’ I don’t know.
“There might be a way to connect people. I think that’s always a good goal: to connect people through your game. So I’ve kind of looked into that, how we might be able to do some of those things. But as far as a game on there, I don’t know.”
It’s very easy for developers and gamers alike to write off Facebook gaming, looking down their noses with disdain, but it’s just as easy to forget that there are people out there with just as strong a connection to FarmVille as you might have to Halo. It’s pretty arrogant to simply assume your love for a game is more legitimate than somebody else’s, and I can’t say I’m innocent of that either.
In any case, the way we treat Facebook is often reminiscent of the way in which the media has always treated “real” games, and I don’t think we want to become those people.
Bethesda’s Todd Howard on RPG Development, 3D, Not Supporting Nintendo and More [Industry Gamers]
