Cuz some people really do live by the principles they set forth. Even in showbiz:
by Chelsea Stark
Bring in well-established indie game developers. Add a lot of cameras and premise for a YouTube reality show. Then throw in serious product placement from Mountain Dew and stir up accusations of producers manipulating cast members to get reactions.
If all accounts are accurate, this is how potential reality show GAME_JAM ended production after only one day, as the 11 indie developers asked to participate left the set in anger. The show was a production of Maker Studios’ subchannel Polaris, which focuses on games and gaming culture.
According to Jared Rosen, a journalist who does contract work for Polaris and writes about independent games, the reality show was originally pitched as something representing the spirit of the indie games community, but became “misguided” as more people and money got involved. Rosen was on the set and wrote about the whole experience on Indie Statik.
The idea was to “document the ups and downs of actually developing a game – hopefully sharing that experience with a viewership likely ranging into the hundreds of thousands, possibly millions,” Rosen wrote — at least that’s what drew the 11 developers to travel to Los Angeles for the shoot.
“More importantly, it would be an opportunity for the group to share the closely-knit spirit of togetherness unique to indie development, presented through the lens of popular YouTube personalities with massive, mostly younger built-in viewerships,” he continued. “A slam dunk, you might say, created in earnest to shine a kind of light into the often misrepresented world of creating … or, at least, that’s what everyone thought.”