EA Partners’ Nick Button-Brown spoke with GamesIndustry.biz and he believes that European developers are more creative than U.S. developers.
Button-Brown said, "There’s more creativity in Europe than there is in America. The Americans are much more refined in their processes, it’s all about the money. There are less chances taken and there is more money being thrown at developers in the US."
He points to the multiculturalism of Europe that makes its developers unique. "So many developers are multinational. Go to Crytek and they have 27 national languages there. And that’s interesting because they are bringing in so many different areas and ideas to the studio, particularly with the influx of Eastern Europe – you’re getting such a wide range of experiences to pick from."
As the director of business development for EA, Button-Brown is always constantly searching for the needle in the haystack that is Europe to work with European independent studios. In fact, EA is expected to make an announcement soon with a German developer.
While I understand where Button-Brown is coming from, I call BS on calling U.S. studios un-creative. Take The Sims, for example; while the series has been beaten to death, it was a huge creative step when the game debut in February 2000. Also the man behind the game, Will Wright, has certainly crafted plenty of unique games throughout his career.
You can’t compare the gaming demographic between the U.S. and Europe, they’re very different and the gaming market is certainly much bigger in the U.S.
