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PocketGamer.biz9 Sep 2015

PechaKucha: Mark Val on why games are about people

Key insights

5 takeaways

01
The most sustainable form of recognition for developers is the ability to influence others positively by prioritizing their unique purpose over the allure of celebrity.
02
Success in a saturated market is driven by persistent belief in a unique vision and authentic human connection rather than the pursuit of immediate fame or external validation.
03
Global connectivity allows for unprecedented reach, but it also creates a proliferation of derivative content that necessitates a focus on authentic voice to remain competitive.
04
The gaming industry is increasingly defined by human experience and personality over technical software specifications, as evidenced by the rise of platforms like Twitch and prominent content creators.
05
Weekly engagement in esports has reached over 300 million people, highlighting the massive audience shift toward human-centric content.

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Transcript

when i was a kid we had a school in school we had a courtyard in the courtyard it was about who is the most famous people in this school it was either a girl or a boy and there was always you know oh yeah it was famous famous girl and as we growing you know in small bar but who is the penis now i want to be you know he's that superstar with that celebrity who is that icon i want to be and in all your life it's more or less what is my purpose in life where i'm gonna go and being famous actually is something that is not easy at all and if you go back in time and you go back in 1500 things were pretty much so um what that means is that if you're really popular and you're not friend with the king you're just going to chop your head so being famous was actually really hard and nowadays we're kind of lucky because

it's a lot easier since we're more conspirating but still future the the future is hard to predict in terms of who's gonna be famous tomorrow and who's gonna be famous um uh well you know like in 10 years or whatnot it's not something you can bet on think about harry potter or whatnot it's these things were not from the start saying okay you know this is my first book it's gonna be popular no no it took a while and if you look at all these people it's all people that fail so as oscar was saying earlier you have to fail a lot before you succeed and these people actually fell for more than 10 years like each of them before actually being starting to get alone so you really have to believe into what you're doing you really have to believe into where you want to grow and obviously at one point well you know you're gonna get shot so um here's hannah warrell who got shot three times trying to shoot a model and of course there was a lot of drugs involved and whatnot but um yeah this code was really good which is in the future everyone will have their

15 minute of fame that's kind of where we have today but still you know you're you're not always you know famous for all good reasons and the thing is that even if you're famous all around the world it doesn't even change anything to your situation some sometimes being famous sucks because even if everyone knows you nothing happened and it's something to always remember is that you have to be famous for all the good things and um as things progress you have to understand in your brain what is the good thing about being famous and you have to understand it's not about what you are doing but about why you are doing it and why you're doing an action why are you sharing why are you participating into something and that way you can actually influence the people around you and then get famous for all the good things and being famous and believing in you it's all about the network from apple so why this thing is a computer yes but before that is actually a really good design a really good um sleek lightweight

macbook and whatnot and then after that it happens to be a really good computer so um the why reason is more important than what it is and if you go back in time again when you one of the first game was ever published it was not about like oh what it is oh it's a game you keep playing you know no no why why would you do that oh i can play with someone else i can beat someone else and that's really the competition where it started where oh you're really good at it you know who's the best at that game unless that guy becomes to be famous and um and even in spark nowadays it's actually really hard to get that little glimpse of time and beat the world record of running but it's still possible and there's still always something even if something has been done many times it's still possible to go over it and be better at it and be the number one so never think that you're uh you're not able to do it and as the wright brothers there was five teams around the world that were trying to be the number one at flying airplane and these guys actually didn't have any funding any marketing nothing at all no

one knew about that but they were the first one to fly just because they really wanted wanted it inside of themselves and it took two weeks before actually they got known around the world and yes we're all tried nowadays we're all connected we're all everyone is together and we have we tried with passion we want to go forward in life and we want to succeed and that way is we are in a moment in time where things will be held together and as facebook for example you have you had not too long ago one billion people using the same service in the same day this is amazing this means that you can have one message across around one one six of the all population of the world and they did this and and and this never happened before so it's the first time they can't actually share something and and then again even if you're famous you're still gonna be copies everywhere and that's still going to be like uh the same thing but with different tastes and who is the

good one in there and how can you make yourself distinguish from all the others and the answer is pretty clear and it has to be in the mind of some marketers out there it's all about boobies the only way for you to be known worldwide is to put movies and then if you have then the movies factory starts everywhere and then we come up with all those amazing services out there so that we can share our games and stuff and what we find everywhere so as you think about it you have twitch which is amazing system to share about what with you what's happening inside your game it's good marketing and then of course as a personal sometimes i want to see i want to get known myself and then of course what you see is what works and um never forget that if your thing is the same as everything else and think about it how it's going to be with augmented reality you know a mental reality with boobies gonna be amazing right and then how's gonna be little

bored and everything relatively brings something that's totally new we went from something that was physical to something that's virtual something this obligation is and coming back to the human world which is you know uh yeah there's pewdiepie now but yeah so uh so being human is extremely important and uh and that's the thing with pewdiepie is he is someone that uh is really you know he is himself he's pronouncing everyone doesn't care just going on forward ah this is hard to do games and yes this is what it is it has makes me to be the number one you have to be showing everywhere where you what your game is and where you're going at and if you think about the esport league now you have a bit more than 300 million people that's watching that every single week so now it's the game is going back to the humanity you have to take it you can take the flame and go forward

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Summary

The pursuit of fame and recognition within the gaming industry is often misaligned with the core purpose of game development. While historical and contemporary cultural narratives emphasize the allure of celebrity, achieving widespread fame is an unpredictable, arduous process that frequently follows years of failure. Success is rarely the result of immediate popularity but rather the product of persistent belief in one’s vision and the ability to distinguish oneself in an increasingly saturated market.

The fundamental driver for any successful project is not the product itself, but the underlying motivation—the "why" behind the creation. Drawing parallels to the Wright brothers, who achieved flight without initial funding or marketing, the industry is reminded that passion and internal drive are more critical than external validation. In the modern era, global connectivity allows for unprecedented reach, as evidenced by platforms like Facebook, which can engage a significant fraction of the global population simultaneously. However, this connectivity also leads to a proliferation of derivative content, necessitating a focus on authentic human connection to stand out.

Ultimately, the gaming industry is shifting back toward its human roots. Platforms like Twitch and the rise of prominent content creators demonstrate that audiences gravitate toward authenticity and personality. With over 300 million people engaging with esports weekly, the industry is increasingly defined by the human experience rather than just the technical specifications of the software. Developers are encouraged to prioritize their unique voice and purpose, as the ability to influence others positively is the most sustainable form of recognition. By focusing on the human element, creators can navigate the complexities of the digital landscape and build lasting impact.