The article Making Art for a living is written by a straight white middle class american male and his perspective on the ways to enjoy making games while also making a living off of them. Bassically he dictates there are games that are more available to a wide audience and those that are more specific towards a small niche. The concept of this makes sense; however, he even admits to not being able to prove that it works the way he states.
Although there are some good points in the article, it is specified for a specific kind of person. Every person and every game developer has different ideas and ways of working which makes the idea of a simple balance between the games that are open to a larger audience and a smaller audience, as such, the games that could make a larger amount of money easier versus the games that struggle to make an impactful amount of money difficult to determine. It is easy to say that there needs to be a balance between the games that have strong personal meaning and the games that are a little lighter but the actual action of that is not so simple. Artists block is a well known thing. Imagine knowing you need to create a well liked and enjoyed game for a large audience by a certain date or you will loose your house. Imagine trying to stay balanced in those circumstances. The idea of balance is good but simply stating the need for it and not giving any kind of insight into how to do so conteracts the statement.
It’s unclear to me why the article was written. There are statements that lead me to believe it is a simple explanation on why he does the things he does. Some portions of the article lead me to believe that the author wants to help teach others on how to be successful and happy creating the games they want to. The end seems to be a want to discuss the experiences of others. The article isn’t really and article though. It was a post on tumblr so maybe I am over analyzing it.
If you want to check out the text I have been referencing: https://blog.adamatomic.com/post/57579873388/making-art-for-a-living
Amanda Potts 