Industrygamers
Last week, we heard from an up-and-coming indie developer who had some harsh words for Sony and the PlayStation Network, and independent developer Team Meat, which has been vocal about a lack of support from Microsoft. Guillaume Boucher-Vidal, Studio Manager at Nine Dots Studio Inc., now regrets his choice of words, however, and he asked us to publish an apology letter. Here it is in full. _ _ An apology for my loud mouth There's a world of difference between sharing an opinion in public and behind closed doors with friends and colleagues. Apparently, this little bit of insight escaped my mind for a while. Let me explain. Following this article, I decided to follow through with the author's invitation to get in touch and share my experiences. However, I didn't think this through and just gave a brutally honest opinion piece, as if I was speaking my mind with a friend while having a drink. Naturally, such an approach ensured that my email would contain very inflammatory sentences, which when undiluted come out as a very harsh headline. Nowhere in my mind did I think that my email would be directly quoted, as I believed their intent was just to know what the spectrum of views on the matter was. In fact, I didn't even think they would care that much about my opinion, given that I'm still a no-name. But that doesn't excuse my behavior. I admit that I was too outspoken, and it was like throwing fuel to the fire and not expecting to get burnt. The same message could have been delivered with more elegance, if I had chosen my words better and acted with a cold head. I think I am being frustrated to see Sony's PR bad-mouthing Microsoft at every corner while Microsoft almost never strikes back at them, even during the PSN fiasco, and that put me on edge. I also admit that I am personally irritated when I see Team Meat publicly bashing Microsoft as they do. Of course, I don't know the whole story behind their argument and never will. But in the end, I feel that it just makes indie developers look bad as a whole, and that means that Microsoft will think twice before dealing with us. They don't go through that kind of trouble when they do business with big publishers and I wish we could consistently offer them the same level of professionalism. And yes, I do get that I lacked professionalism myself or I wouldn't be writing this. Now I want to make things clear: I do not blame IndustryGamers. I wasn't careful enough in my statements, and I assume full responsibility. That was a beginner's mistake that blew out of proportion and is now becoming a PR nightmare. I want to make amends. I want to be a positive force in this industry, which I follow closely every day. I check every numbers I can find, I follow a handful of websites daily and I have a huge collection of games because this is my passion, this is what I want to do. I started my own studio because I love video games, I'm very passionate about its industry, and always will be. So I hope I can make up for it, and more importantly, I hope that our games will speak for themselves better than I do. I don't know if this will get to Team Meat, but I want to say I bitterly regret my words and I am sorry. Guillaume Boucher-Vidal http://www.industrygamers.com/news/sony-team-meat-bashing-developer-apologizes-for-loud-mouth/
Studio Manager
Nine Dots Studio Inc
