Thatgamecompany: “Gamers are not stupid”

Thatgamecompany's Kellee Santiago has said the industry underrates gamers intelligence by pumping out identical games all the time.

"Gamers are not stupid, and I don’t think we should treat them like they are," the studio co-founder told Gamasutra, responding to a suggestion that publishers have an inaccurate idea of what gamers want.

Santiago said there's no divide between hardcore gamers and those who enjoy "intelligent" games

"People think that our games are for some weird subset of experimental gamers," she said.

"We’ve been very successful on the PlayStation Network, and we’re talking about the PlayStation 3 audience. That’s like as pretty hardcore a gaming audience as you can get."

Having said that, Santiago did claim that the company's fanbase is composed of "literate" gamers - although with an unusual definition of the word.

"The PlayStation Network audience has been really great to us, because they’re very, what I think of as 'literate gamers.'

"They play everything. They read about games. They talk about games in a very literate way, and are looking for that new experience."

As well as a thirst for unusual experiences, the developer said there's a market for games which can be shared with family members and non-gamers but aren't dumbed down.

Thatgamecompany is responsible for Flow, Flower and the upcoming Journey.

Thanks, IndieGames.