Developers are probably familiar with the “national pavilions” at events like Gamescom and Game Developers Conference. They are areas organized by trade groups or governments affiliated with the region that shed light on game development in their regions, both to help games from those areas find an audience and to convince investors and studios to set up shop in their area.
The national pavilion at Gamescom 2024 was an almost overwhelming spectacle this year, with China, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Indonesia, Estonia, the Philippines and other countries represented with booths large and small, each filled with developers demonstrating their games, pitch to investors or solicit the press.
One country was not represented: the United States. Or… was it? A lone stand from the land of red, white and blue stood tall, though, ironically, it was painted a more emerald green.
That's because the pavilion belonged to the Washington State Department of Commerce and was managed by Creative Economy Development Director Shannon Roche Halberstadt. A veteran of the Recording Industry Association of America, Halberstadt told Game Developer that she took the Washington State government job to help support game development in the state, already home to Valve, Microsoft, Nintendo of America and a slew of triples -A game study.
With companies like those already calling the shots, why exactly would the state government travel all the way to Germany to show off the state? Halberstadt told Game Developer that it's part of a project to not only attract new companies to the region, but also to support local studios… and keep them from moving on to pastures new.
Keeping developers in Washington despite the high cost of living
Our conversation with Halberstadt comes at a time when excruciatingly high development costs in the United States they are pushing publishers and investors to rush to parts of the world where the lower cost of living leads to lower wages and, therefore, lower budgets.
Unfortunately, when you think of “high salaries” in the United States, Washington State definitely makes the list. A 2024 analysis from Forbes consider it the state with the eighth highest cost of living in the nation.
Salaries in the Seattle and Redmond areas are driven up by the presence of Microsoft and Amazon, but developers also have to contend with brutal real estate costs that only drop when you head south to Olympia or Tacoma or across the water towards Bremerton or Poulsbo. (Developers settling in North Bend can walk down the street a damn good cup of coffee…)
Halberstadt acknowledged the high costs (and pointed out the developers I am to open stores in those areas), but he said he has heard from developers who want to stay in the Seattle area to be close to their peers. “It's a really great place,” he said. “You're hanging out with all these other companies. You'll have colleagues, you'll have people who are already in the industry. You'll be able to access support services. You'll be able to access networking and meetings…that community is actually a really important thing. “
Image via Adobe Stock.
The Commerce Department can't address high real estate costs alone (Halberstadt addressed the Legislature on this topic), but she said there are other levers it is pulling to spur development in the region.
Funding from the state itself for startups and independent companies probably won't be coming anytime soon, but he said part of his trip to Gamescom was to research how other countries support developers. He also wants the state to look into incentives such as those for the aerospace or agricultural industries.
His main concern, however, has to do with getting smaller studios in front of investors and publishers. It's another reason she came to Gamescom: She pointed to a table behind her, where game studio One More Game was showing off EXCHANGE MEAT. The game had won the “Creative Overload” award at the Devcom Indie Showcase just the night before, which couldn't have happened unless the Department of Commerce brought them to the event.
Thanks to that award, they said, they were having meetings with stakeholders they wouldn't have had at home.
Although Halberstadt is new to the gaming industry, she seems to be behind the times on how traditional business development loans don't work well for game studios. “Game studios have a really hard time accessing traditional financial products because the path to product creation is so long,” he said. “The financials don't work for a bank down the street that's doing an SBA loan. It makes it really difficult.” His hope is that the Washington government can partner with financial entities to incentivize loans to support game studios.
If the state game development economy is already self-sustaining, why should Halberstadt get involved? “Invest in water where the grass is green to keep it green,” he said. “If you don't invest and create a space to develop new talent… the industry can go elsewhere.”
He pointed to the trading floor, where dozens of countries were eagerly pitching themselves as places to land movie studios.
Video games can help artists make a living
As previously mentioned, Halberstadt came out of the music industry, previously working at the RIAA. She said she became interested in video games after meeting so many musicians and recording professionals who talked about how much income they were making from the business. “People found minimum wage jobs where they didn’t have to string together a lot of work,” he said.
His investment in video games as a place for artists to earn a living wage resonated in our conversation. Although her employer cares about tax revenue and GDP, she had much higher inspirations. “There is so much amazing art that comes through video games,” he enthused. “It's a way for people to connect… it's a great way to create cohesion.”
He joked that he would prefer if other states didn't invest so much in their gaming industries so that everyone would come to Washington, but he recognized that there is room across the country for different territories to lean on their different strengths and ultimately band together for a business healthier.
What would you say to industry professionals promoting similar initiatives in other states?
Just two words: “keep it up”.
Game Developer and GDC are sister organizations of Informa Tech.