As if breaking hold of exclusivity to the PlayStation series of gaming platforms wasn't enough, now Insomniac Games is targeting an altogether different platform -- in this case, the social gaming platform.
The new social gaming initiative will be headed by a new business unit within the studio, to be known as Insomniac Click. In the announcement post on the studio blog, Insomniac Chief Creative Officer Brian Hastings states that he will play a role in the new business unit, although the other employees assigned to the unit are newly-hired specifically for the purpose of targeting Facebook to deliver the studio's social gaming experiences.
In the blog post, Hastings states that the new initiative is "something we’re passionate about. It’s also a pragmatic necessity. The gaming landscape is changing faster now than at any time in the industry’s existence. More people are playing games every day than ever before and the kinds of games they are playing are diversifying more rapidly than ever. The whole game industry is in the midst of what appears to be a sea change."
Hastings then adds that "with this change comes some of the most exciting challenges and opportunities we’ve ever had."
That doesn't mean Insomniac is going to abandon the "core gamer" mindset anytime soon.
"We believe there will always be a market for what we call 'core' games. These are games specifically made for people like you and me – people who grew up playing games, read gaming blogs, argue about games on message boards, and who care deeply about creating and playing truly transformative interactive experiences. These are the people who believe games can be – in fact are – art. But these games also require a certain amount of expertise to play. You need to be able to simultaneously control two analog sticks and eight to 10 different buttons to clear the first level."
"Games didn’t used to be that complicated," adds Hastings. "But the core audience now not only accepts it, we expect it. We want more complex interactions and deeper forms of gameplay. But as core games have become increasingly complex the barrier to entry for everyone else has often become higher and higher. As a result, the games with the highest production values are simply impossible to play for the vast majority of people in the world."
Hastings didn't mention any specific projects, nor is the Insomniac team ready to disclose such projects at this time. However, Hastings did promise there will be "more to announce and show off in the coming months. We look forward to hearing what you would like to see in the social gaming space and we hope you’ll join us online when we launch!"
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