While video games can offer plenty of entertainment, they can also offer a different perspective to interested fans: Art. Many game developers consider their work as art and plenty of gamers who have played classic games consider them the pinnacle of the art form.
Gamasutra spoke with Moby Francke, Valve’s art director for Team Fortress 2, about the game’s distinctive art style and why not many games have embraced an unique art style.
Francke contributes risk as a reason why there’s a lack of games with unique art styles. He mentions that since games take a long time to develop, developers don’t want to spend extra time establishing an unique art style.
"I think it’s because of the high risk to produce a game… you know, games take so long. ‘Why not go with what everyone else is doing?’ is the safest bet. It’s what a lot of people expect. But I think when you take high risks; sometimes the results will be much better. That’s what we were lucky to achieve with Team Fortress 2."
Francke also talked about how in the world of gaming, the art style is still very young. He proclaims that developers will struggle establishing art styles for thousands of years because it’s highly conceptual.
"I think video games are at such infancy in terms of art style, actually developing it. We’re dealing with 4000 years, really, of art and conceptual design. For it really not to be utilized, and for the industry to basically dwell in a certain type of genre which has been around the 1980s up to present time, it’s pretty much all they’re embracing."
Lastly, when asked about Grand Theft Auto, Francke said, "That’s not an art style to me. It just seems like other games out there. It really doesn’t have uniqueness to it." What do you folks think about that?
