Owen KC Stephens Tells It Like It Is With #RealGameIndustry

The general populous doesn't have much of an idea about what goes on in the publishing industry in general, or the RPG publishing industry in particular. All they see are the finished products, with their flashy art, shiny minis, and polished presentations to make them look as appealing as possible. And the things people do see tend to be celebrity gamers with big budgets and huge followings, forgetting that they're putting on a show. So naturally many players assume that RPG designers, much like authors, are making some solid earnings, and that companies whose games are popular have big slush funds of cash with which to design new and exciting games for all of us to play.

Let me burst that bubble for you right now. Because none of that is remotely true.

Because trust me, the whole industry is a gamble. With VERY long odds.

I have not been in the industry as long, nor have I worked with as many companies, as some. That said, I can confirm more than a few of the #RealGameIndustry statements made by Owen KC Stephens.

No One Gets Paid, Everything is Broken, We're Trying Our Best

The first thing I can confirm is that no, no one in the RPG industry is paid well. There are lots of people who are, "paid well for RPGs," but if making games is your main job there are just certain realities you've probably had to make peace with. Things like never owning a home or property of your own, for example. Only a tiny fraction of people in the industry have benefits or insurance, and a frankly staggering number of us make RPGs as a side hustle (or have to depend on a spouse's job for main household income, vision, dental, etc.). A lot of us can't even afford to actually buy games, much less the high-end accessories you see like fancy gaming tables, elaborate dice towers, or gaming scenery.

Personally, one of the only reasons I have access to any new games is this blog, and the reviewer files I get from publishers looking for promotion. Something I'm very grateful for, and which I'd never be able to afford to buy if I still wanted to eat.

So if you have ever had that moment where you thought we game designers were some kind of big-money rock stars, scrub that idea right out of your brain pan. And if you really want to make the creators you love feel like rock stars, go support them right now! I'm on Patreon at The Literary Mercenary, and if you're a fan of Mr. Stephens' work, check out his Patreon too!

That's far from the only truth, though.

Another thing that I can testify to is that RPGs are very similar to novels in another respect. Everyone thinks they can do it, and those who have interesting ideas, those who can write compelling stories, and those who can actually sell books are rarely the same person.

Incidentally, if you haven't picked up my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my short story collection The Rejects, go check them out!

To be clear, here, this is not the criticism it sounds like. However, when it comes to RPGs, you often have to wear a bunch of different hats in order to get the job done, and if you can't wear a particular hat that job tends to go to a freelancer. If you have great ideas but can't put them into words, you hire someone like me to take the core of your idea and flesh it out into engaging prose. If you can write a story or create a setting, that doesn't necessarily mean you have any aptitude for designing functioning rules systems. And if you can design rules systems, that doesn't mean you have any marketing knack at all.

The sexism, racism, and other issues in tabletop gaming Mr. Stephens mentions? Definitely present. I've been fortunate enough that I've not witnessed it from other professionals or companies that I've worked with (quite the opposite, in that most companies I've worked with have been trying to educate themselves to make sure they don't alienate potential players by looking or acting biased) but I have seen quite a lot of it from the fans who play games. Mostly white guys (several of whom are older than me) who lament that they're now minorities because their games only have 40 percent white guys instead of the more accepted 80 percent when they got into the hobby. The sorts of fans who will violently stomp out of the room (or flounce from a forum) because games include black elves, non-European cultures, or because the game made it clear that prejudice against LGBTQ+ people is not a part of their game or setting.

And I've only witnessed a tiny portion of this behavior, as most of it doesn't get slung my way as a masculine presenting white dude. Though I do seem to recall there was one guy who called me a race traitor because I pointed out that fantasy settings have a somewhat less than stellar record on diversity and inclusion. That was a weird day.

It's Still a Business (Even If It Looks Like Fun and Games)

I wanted to add my own contribution to the #RealGameIndustry hashtag. This was present in the spirit, but I didn't see it spelled out, so I thought I'd add it in.

There are a lot of people out there trying to make games. But there are not a lot of folks out there who actually know how to run a business. And that becomes a problem when you expect to actually get some kind of return for your efforts.

Money make the world go round.

Finding people who are making games isn't hard. Go to a con and throw a rock, and there's a decent chance you'll hit somebody who's tinkering with an RPG project. But far too many people get caught up in the art of the game, and the rush of actually creating, and then don't ask how they're going to sell it. Forgetting, of course, that games are expensive to make... and more so if you had to hire freelancers to help get it done.

Your art, your text, your editing, your rules, your maps, the publishing... all of that takes money. And if you don't sell copies of your game, then you're not going to make money to invest in future projects and installments (or pay your bills). More than that, though, freelancers tend to avoid dead-end projects once they recognize them for what they are. Because a paycheck is nice, but if that game is never going to be published (or if it has, "pet project" stenciled on in big red letters), they're going to jump ship. If their name is in the credits, it's on their work history. If you don't treat your game like a product you intend to sell (and to sell as widely as you possibly can), then you're going to have trouble attracting serious talent to your table.

Just some food for thought.

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

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