Synths, impossible physics, and an "erotic experience with a PS5 controller" - the side projects of game devs are a reminder creativity is undimmable

If there's been one theme I'd pick out from the many of these past few years of gaming discontent, it's the sense of all-out assault on creativity.

The short version

• This is the thing that makes games what they are, that makes them successful, that earns people money and gives people a reason to do the job in the first place, but it's also the thing that seems to be valued least at so many of those making the decisions.
• To those people creativity is something to be funneled, moulded, directed or strictly defined.
• Often, I suspect, it's just not really something directly thought about at all.

What happened

At best it's a nice buzzword to roll out as needed, but rare one that's even remotely understood. A lot of the little things we love about games comes back to that fact: that someone thought of that thing, and thought it would be cool, and then went and made it.

Why it matters

You can pile all the weight of industry and capital on top of people, squeezing as hard as you like for as long as you like, and ejecting as many of those people as you like out to the sidelines.

Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at Eurogamer via the links above and below.