Words by Chip Pedersen /// Art by Evan Palmer
I’ve worked in the video game industry for over twenty years. As a kid, I didn’t even know that was an option. Not only have I been able to make a living at this dream job, but it’s also taken me on journeys I never thought possible.
I’ve met and collaborated with incredible people from all over the world. It’s one of the pleasures of working in video games, but it’s also a symptom of one of the problems. My dream job kept my family and me on the move near constantly. Our three sons were all born in different states. In 2005 I had the opportunity to work for Activision Minneapolis, and we jumped on the chance to move back and rejoin our family and friends in the Midwest. I worked for Activision for several years before leaving to help create other studios including my own, FrostBit Studios. Proving the point that it’s hard to make games in MSP, I eventually went to work for Concrete Software when my studio went under.
Making games is difficult, but it’s even more difficult to make games in Minneapolis–St. Paul. It’s not the hot bed for game development as it is in other regions of the country like Silicon Valley. But that shouldn’t be the case.
We have excellent universities and art schools, a list of Fortune 500 companies a mile long, and a thriving tech community with loads of creative people. We’ve got a lot going for us in MSP, but there is only a small indie game scene and a handful of game studios that can support themselves full-time. This makes many people interested in making games head west, Oregon Trail style (which is ironic, since that game was made here in Minnesota).
This has to change, and it can. During my travels I met with many studios in locations around the world that you wouldn’t think would have a thriving gaming scene—Sweden, Finland, Romania, and Slovakia to name a few. I asked them how they grew their communities, and they all said the same thing: it was hard work, but it was born from a robust game demo scene. The key was they would meet regularly and share and build off their work, one-off projects that became something more. Teams formed, and games and studios grew from them. As they continued to put out games, people took notice.
It’s not unsimilar to the music industry and the rise of the “Minneapolis Sound” in the 1980s. The example set by Prince and his proteges showed that gaining a following and getting signed didn’t require a move to the coasts. And when musicians stayed (and thrived) in the Twin Cities, musicians from around the country took notice and moved here.
We have the people, the talent, the drive. And much like in a video game, we just need a hero to emerge and put MSP on the map. We need a person, a small studio, a game to become our hero. Are you that hero?
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